Clinton, Bush and the Illusion of Last-Minute Peace By Prof. Barry Rubin

Doesn’t it all sound so familiar? A president in the last year of his office decides that the Middle East and Israeli-Palestinian issue can and will be put in order just in time for him to leave the White House, as if these complex, dangerous issues can be resolved like the happy ending of a 30-minute television show or 90-minute Hollywood film.

To paraphrase the nursery rhyme about circling endlessly, Bush is merely taking us around the mulberry bush once more in an exact replay of Bill Clinton’s presidency. Eight years ago, in his last twelve months in office, Clinton, too, decided that the conflict must be resolved right away, before his second term ended. Result: total, humiliating failure and a five-year-long bloody Palestinian war on Israel.

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