There are number of issues here that need to be addressed. The first is the need to come to a consensus on defining what a settlement is.

Without an understanding it makes it difficult to negotiate. Some people argue that cities like Tel Aviv are settlements and others say that they are something closer to a hilltop outpost consisting of a few trailers.

There is no unified Palestinian gov’t. Abbas doesn’t speak for Hamas. Hamas refuses to recognize Israel.

Israel disengaged from Gaza and Hamas turned it into a launching pad for terrorist attacks.

I don’t argue that Israel is blame free, but Obama’s tack doesn’t do enough to hold the other side accountable.

If you look at the rhetoric coming from them you can see that to be so. Mubarak lectures Israel about peace, but does nothing to stop the import of weapons into the tunnels from the Egyptian side.

The humanitarians, the Saudis lecture Israel about this. But they insist on letting girls die in a fire because they think that they are improperly dressed, flog a 75 year old woman for being with a man she is not related to etc.

Flipping back to the Pals, Olmert offered Abbas the following and was turned down:

97% of the West Bank
Right of Return for Palestinian refugees
East Jerusalem

He turned Olmert down because they are unwilling to acknowledge a legitimate Jewish connection.

Bottom line, we can press for peace, but we have to work on building a real foundation for it first.