Peace Is Hard, So Obama Should Give Up

I'm not sure that's what the Nobel Committee had in mind, but it's the gist of the advice of retired IDF general Ephraim Sneh in relation to the Israel-Palestine peace process. You have to love this:

It is because the political constraints of both leaders, the Palestinian Authority's Mahmoud Abbas and Israel's Binyamin Netanyahu, prevent any progress at the negotiation table. Abbas, without substantial achievements, cannot explain to his people why he made substantial concessions to the Israelis. Netanyahu, given the political composition of his government, cannot provide Abbas with such achievements.

So basically, Abbas can't demonstrate progress toward peace without Netanyahu's being willing to negotiate, and since Netanyahu won't negotiate you may as well call the whole thing off. I suspect that Sneh's real fear is that pressure from Obama might make Netanyahu seem unreasonable and obstructionist - despite the fact that Sneh just told us that he and his government are obstructionist.