The disappointment with the policy of US President Barack Obama in the Middle East has begun to prevail in Arab circles, which had been optimistic when he was elected. After Bush's war in Iraq and his blind support of Israel, and the use of force with his enemies, no one expected that his policy in the Middle East would produce any peace initiative or vision of a formula for peace in the region. While Obama began his presidency with an address in Cairo about his desire to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on a balanced basis, hopes have retreated that this will be achieved. The latest examples are the statements of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in support of Israel and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the retreat in the American position that had insisted on a halt to settlements in order to restart negotiations. As Henry Siegman wrote in the Herald Tribune, Israel's problem with peace is a true “disease,” since it wants a peace in which it can dominate the Palestinians and refuse to withdraw, halt settlements or end the occupation. Since the US president is unable to use true pressure on the Jewish state, peace cannot be reached. The retreat in the American stance, which was clear during the visit by Clinton to Israel, can only weaken the Palestinian Authority and its president and strengthen extremist forces in the Palestinian territories. The dialogue that Obama wants with Iran clashes with this state's tampering with the G-6 proposals on its nuclear program, giving Netanyahu an excuse to focus on the Iranian issue, instead of anchoring true negotiations with the Palestinians. The policy that Obama promised began to disappoint those who believed that he would be able to escape the American presidential tradition of submitting to the Jewish lobby in the United States. Netanyahu has begun to regain his influence in these circles, after having been in retreat as a result of American Jews' irritation at the continuation of Israel's settlement expansionism. Now, with this disappointment, where is the world headed as Israel remains intransigent in dealing with the Palestinians; Iran continues to insist on developing a nuclear bomb; the south Lebanon front remains calm, with growing, near-daily attacks; and the security situation in Iraq continues to be fragile in light of suicide attacks, which are catastrophic the Iraqi people? Under these crisis-like conditions, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, will meet next week with his friends in the region, who will arrive successively in Paris. The Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, begins his visit to Paris at the beginning of next week, followed by Netanyahu, who also received an invitation from his friend Sarkozy. Then, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will arrive on the 13th of the month, followed by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on the 16th. In turn, after all of these meetings, Sarkozy will head to Saudi Arabia and brief King Abdullah Abdel-Aziz on his intensive discussions with his visitors. Sarkozy is convinced that there should be rapid work on launching negotiations on all tracks, in cooperation with the US and not against it. However, the region's reality does not bode well for this, as his friend Netanyahu wants to impose conditions on the French president's other friends. Sarkozy will try once again with his new friend, Bashar al-Assad, to convince him of the necessity of resuming peace talks with Israel, even though the Syrian president expressed his desire to do this via Turkish mediation. Al-Assad wants his visit to Paris to coincide with the formation of a cabinet in Lebanon, as a positive initiative that he can present to the French president, so it can be said to him that Syria has helped, through its friend in Minister Sleiman Franjieh, to overcome the obstacles and form the government. Sarkozy is aiming to succeed where Obama failed, since France views Washington's policy of launching Palestinian-Israeli negotiations as being incorrect. However, all sides in the region look forward to the US role because it is essential in pressuring Israel, and because the European role remains marginal, irrespective of the friendly between Netanyahu and any European leader. The successive Arab and Israeli visits to France will only boost France's place in European policy in the Middle East, even though Sarkozy enjoys a special relationship of friendship with Netanyahu. France cannot launch a peace policy on three tracks, since the US administration alone can pressure the Jewish state.
