The publisher of the country’s largest Jewish weekly called the upcoming Mideast peace conference a waste of time.
In his weekly column, Gary Rosenblatt, editor and publisher of the New York Jewish Week, writes that in planning the upcoming Annapolis peace conference, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appears to be repeating the mistakes of her predecessors.
“The notion of the U.S. sponsoring peace talks to hammer out a settlement between the Palestinians and Israelis by smoothing over their deep differences with carefully chosen phrases rather than smartly crafted solutions, and pushing off the toughest decisions for the end of the talks, should have ended with the failure of Oslo,” Rosenblatt writes.
Rosenblatt further challenged the view that peace depends on Washington flexing its muscle rather than the readiness and willingness of Israelis and Palestinians. “What Washington can do best is help build trust, not twist arms,” Rosenblatt writes.
