[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA:

It should be kept in mind that the words of an American president are
carefully scripted.

Here is what he said:

"...President Abbas...understood the window for creating a Palestinian state
is closing."

How are we to interpret this message - especially in light of the
Palestinian plan that in the event that the negotiations with Israel end
without the creation of a state (including if Mahmoud Abbas walks away
because the settlement freeze is not extended) the Palestinian state will
created via a process without Israel's consent (for example, via action at
the United Nations)?

Why would the "window" be "closing" if the Palestinian state would be
created via the UN? If anything, assuming that the PA continues with its
"institution building" program, as time goes on they will be in a better
position to argue in the UN that they are prepared to be an independent
state. So the "window" for a Palestinian state via the UN rather than
talks with Israel doesn't seem to be "closing".

And yet, here is the president of the United States saying that the window
is closing.

Does this mean that the United States won't go along with the creation of a
Palestinian state through a process that does not include a
Palestinian-Israeli agreement?

On the other hand, Mr. Obama says that "if these talks break down, we're
going to keep on trying."

"Trying" what?

Since President Obama says that "the window for creating a Palestinian state
is closing" it would appear that the "trying" relates to "trying" to get a
Palestinian-Israeli agreement.

After all, the creation of a Palestinian state at the UN - as reckless,
dangerous, disruptive, etc. as it may be would not be a matter of "trying"
on the part of the United States. ]

============
The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release September 10, 2010 Press Conference by President Obama
11:02 A.M. EDT
www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/09/10/press-conference-president-obama

...

Natasha Mozgovaya of Haaretz. Is she here? Natasha -- there you are back
there.

Q Mr. President, back in the region, the Palestinian and Israeli leaders,
they sound a bit less ready for this historic compromise. President Abbas,
for example, said the Palestinians won't recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
The question is, if these talks fail at an early stage, will this
administration disengage? Or maybe you're ready to step up and deepen your
personal involvement.

THE PRESIDENT: President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu were here last
week, and they came with a sense of purpose and seriousness and cordiality
that, frankly, exceeded a lot of people's expectations. What they said was
that they were serious about negotiating. They affirmed the goal of creating
two states, living side by side in peace and security. They have set up a
schedule where they're going to meet every two weeks. We are actively
participating in that process. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be
flying to the Middle East for the first series of next meetings on September
14th and 15th.

And so what we've done is to bring the parties together to try to get them
to recognize that the path for Israeli security and Palestinian sovereignty
can only be met through negotiations. And these are going to be tough
negotiations. There are enormous hurdles between now and our endpoint, and
there are going to be a whole bunch of folks in the region who want to
undermine these negotiations. We saw it when Hamas carried out these
horrific attacks against civilians -- and explicitly said, we're going to
try to do this to undermine peace talks. There are going to be
rejectionists who suggest that it can't happen, and there are also going to
be cynics who just believe that the mistrust between the sides is too deep.

We understood all that. We understood that it was a risk for us to promote
these discussions. But it is a risk worth taking. Because I firmly believe
that it is in America's national security interests, as well as Israel's
national security interests, as well as in the interests of the Palestinian
people, to arrive at a peace deal.

Part of the reason that I think Prime Minister Netanyahu was comfortable
coming here was that he's seen, during the course of 18 months, that my
administration is unequivocal in our defense of Israel's security. And we've
engaged in some unprecedented cooperation with Israel to make sure that they
can deal with any external threats. But I think he also came here
understanding that to maintain Israel as a Jewish state that is also a
democratic state, this issue has to be dealt with.

I think President Abbas came here, despite great misgivings and pressure
from the other side, because he understood the window for creating a
Palestinian state is closing. And there are a whole bunch of parties in the
region who purport to be friends of the Palestinians and yet do everything
they can to avoid the path that would actually lead to a Palestinian state,
would actually lead to their goal.

And so the two parties need each other. That doesn't mean it's going to
work. Ultimately it's going to be up to them. We can facilitate; we can
encourage; we can tell them that we will stand behind them in their efforts
and are willing to contribute as part of the broader international community
in making this work. But ultimately the parties have to make these
decisions for themselves.

And I remain hopeful, but this is going to be tough. And I don't want
anybody out there thinking that it's going to be easy. The main point I want
to make is it's a risk worth taking because the alternative is a status quo
that is unsustainable.

And so if these talks break down, we're going to keep on trying. Over the
long term, it has the opportunity, by the way, also to change the strategic
landscape in the Middle East in a way that would be very helpful. It would
help us deal with an Iran that has not been willing to give up its nuclear
program. It would help us deal with terrorist organizations in the region.
So this is something in our interest. We're not just doing this to feel
good. We're doing it because it will help secure America as well.

...Helene Cooper.

Q Thank you, Mr. President. Two questions. One on Afghanistan. How can
you lecture Hamid Karzai about corruption when so many of these corrupt
people are on the U.S. payroll?

And on the Middle East, do you believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu should extend the settlement moratorium as a gesture to peace?
And if he doesn't, what are you prepared to do to stop the Palestinians from
walking?

THE PRESIDENT: Okay. On Afghanistan, ...

Now, with respect to Prime Minister Netayanhu and the Middle East, a major
bone of contention during the course of this month is going to be the
potential lapse of the settlement moratorium. The irony is, is that when
Prime Minister Netanyahu put the moratorium in place, the Palestinians were
very skeptical. They said this doesn't do anything. And it turns out, to
Prime Minister Netanyahu's credit and to the Israeli government's credit,
the settlement moratorium has actually been significant. It has
significantly reduced settlement construction in the region. And that's why
now the Palestinians say, you know what, even though we weren't that keen on
it at first or we thought it was just window dressing, it turns out that
this is important to us.

What I've said to Prime Minister Netanyahu is that, given, so far, the talks
are moving forward in a constructive way, it makes sense to extend that
moratorium so long as the talks are moving in a constructive way. Because,
ultimately, the way to solve these problems is for the two sides to agree
what's going to be Israel, what's going to be the state of Palestine. And
if you can get that agreement, then you can start constructing anything that
the people of Israel see fit in undisputed areas.

Now, I think the politics for Prime Minister Netanyahu are very difficult.
His coalition -- I think there are a number of members of his coalition who've
said, we don't want to continue this. And so one of the things that I've
said to President Abbas is, you've got to show the Israeli public that you
are serious and constructive in these talks so that the politics for Prime
Minister Netanyahu -- if he were to extend the settlements moratorium --
would be a little bit easier.

And one of the goals I think that I've set for myself and for my team is to
make sure that President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu start thinking
about how can they help the other succeed, as opposed to how do they figure
out a way for the other to fail. Because if they're going to be successful
in bringing about what they now agree is the best course of action for their
people, the only way they're going to succeed is if they are seeing the
world through the other person's eyes. And that requires a personal
relationship and building trust. Hopefully, these meetings will help do
that.

...
END
12:18 P.M. EDT