With Netanyahu to form the new Israeli government, Obama’s vision of a peaceful Middle East is at a cross road. Significantly, the impact of violent left the area boiling with vengeance and any USA solution should tackle the problem from its roots, and find solutions that provide a viable statehood for the Palestinians.

The USA along with President Abbas will find that they are caught in the middle between Netanyahu and Hamas hard-line thinking and dogma. The latest outcome of the Israeli elections, Gaza’s war, and Palestinians power struggle and division, no doubt that the region is heading towards more extremism and radicalism. It needs more than listening from Secretary of State Mrs. Clinton so as to gain momentum to start putting the peace process on track. Mrs. Clinton needs to brighten USA image in the Middle East; she urgently needs a change of policy, and a lot of determination to solve the Israeli Palestinian conflict or the area will be heading to mini wars that will result in a chaotic Middle East where USA national interest will be at stake.

Make no mistake; the road to peace is hard especially with Netanyahu hard line approach and Hamas clinching to power in Gaza. Between these two extremes the United States of America will find itself indulged in a different kind of diplomacy. The above actors will target the peace process so as to gain more power on the ground, ignoring the human and suffering side of the problem. There is little chance that peace will come soon, on the contrary, in the name of security, resistance and occupation, the situation on the ground will deteriorate. Both actors are so radicalized in their approach which could lead to a regional unrest among the neighboring countries. Reshaping USA foreign policy in the region needs more than appointing an envoy; it needs addressing the root of the problem with unbiased approach.

Several envoys have visited the area for the last six decades to bring peace and tranquility to the people in the area, but alas the situation becomes worse and the death toll of children, women and Palestinian men is increasing. On the other hand, Israelis believe and nightmare that their existence is been threatened.

The spillover of violence and the volatile situation needs more than George Mitchell and Tony Blair visits, and presence in the area. The USA new administration should understand that it is dealing with a different hidden Israeli and Hamas agendas in the region. On one hand, Netanyahu does not believe in a Palestinian state, and on the other Hamas does not recognize Israel’s right to exist as a nation. Both parties will be an obstacle for the new USA administration and mostly President Abbas moderate stands with Israel. Abbas position will be so fragile among his people for the Israeli Palestinian conflict and peace negotiations has been dragging for so many years without any fruitful results. Definitely, with Israeli hard liners, Peace is at stake, the region is anticipating more violence; Hamas is thieving on the idea of war to curb Mahmoud Abbas moderate position and status among the Palestinians, so it will cement its political agenda as an organization. This fracas has proven to be the headache for the American and European envoys that visited the area in search of a solution.

The USA should understand that Gaza’s war has changed the equilibrium between war and peace. It cemented hatred among the Palestinians towards Israel, and it also opened a strong debate on Israel’s belligerent actions and reactions’ in the world. It tipped what little hope in moderates from both sides who believed that peace can succeed. If there were any moderates in the Arab world, this war has influenced their thinking and determination to reach peace.

The Arab peace initiative that gave Israel recognition among Arab nations has been ignored by consecutive Israeli governments. Israel’s lack of response, their confiscation of land, closure of passages, etc…resulted in the volatile situation on the ground and cemented Hamas agenda and weakened Abbas position.

The new USA administration should understand that fear of survival among political actors in the area can create a negative impact on the ground and can lead to war and more instability. This fear will nourish state terrorism and non government actors’ terrorist attacks. These terrorists attacks will spread into neighboring countries and those who are called moderates will suffer the most. Also, the USA national interest in Iraq and neighboring countries will be threatened enormously. So as to avoid nourishing terrorism and curbing wars, the USA should seriously change its policy and engage even-handed in the area.

To reach a fair solution to the Palestinian Israeli conflict, the new administration should encourage the Israeli hardliners that peace will bring security, prosperity and recognition for them in the Arab world. It is not difficult to pressure Netanyahu into signing a peace treaty based on the Arab imitative. For History has showed that he handed eighty percent of Hebron in January 1997 to the Palestinian Authority control and signed the Wye River Memorandum on23 October 1998 where Israel will further withdraw from the West Bank.

On the other hand, the USA should be able to understand not to tie Hamas to any global terrorist organization, for Hamas believes that they are a resistance group that is fighting an occupier on their grandfathers land. So as to avoid turning Hamas acts outside Gaza, the new administration should encourage dialogue among the Palestinians so as to provide a peaceful terrain for the incoming peace negotiations.

It should also support Mahmud Abbas to reconcile with Hamas and accommodate them within a new government. In return the United States should accept such a government and deal with it as legitimate. Hamas should understand that this internal division among the Palestinians reflected negatively on this dignified cause all around the world and have stamped them as a terrorist organization. In the name of terror the Palestinian cause is deteriorating and the people are losing ground... and a fair, honest cause has turned into a fiasco.

Hamas should grasp that this reconciliation will change their image in the world and give them an edge over Israel’s hardliners. By doing so, the Palestinian political position will strengthen and the road to peace can be paved. Hamas should realize that their continuous attacks and Israeli’s counterattacks are costing the Palestinian people lives, land and strengthening Israel’s hegemony on the ground.

The new administration should avoid the previous mistakes of the Bush era; it should present solutions that tackle the problem from its roots. The Palestinians have been living in misery under occupation, in camps, humiliated from the world, driven to poverty and ignored by most of the world since the creation of Israel. Ignoring this misery is inhumane and cruel.

The Palestinian people need more than UN resolutions, envoys, or soft words from the world; they need a viable state that recognizes their existence on the world map based on 1967 borders, al-Quads as its capital, and most important Israel recognition of the magnitude of the misery of Palestinian refugees, the right of return that is protected under the UN resolution 194.Israel on the other hand, will be secure from any aggression. Both parties will benefit economically from the peace process. The area in general will be less volatile and more prosperous and the USA national interest in the region will be intact.

Photo: President Obama ( L) and President Abbas