Why Obama Should Push For A Deal

When, just after his re-election, Barack Obama sought to execute his so-called pivot with a trip to Asia, the Middle East asserted itself. Two events—one a hot war and another a diplomatic one—thrust the Israeli-Palestinian conflict yet again into the limelight. A week of fighting in Gaza ended in a stalemate, at best, and the United Nations vote underscored the Jewish State's growing isolation. Throughout, Obama bear-hugged Benjamin Netanyahu.

The administration still talks about the fundamental need for a conflict-ending deal, but the past month doesn't inspire conficence that the Obama administration aims to aggressively pursue one. And why should he? As Peter Beinart points out in the below clip from his dialogue with Amb. Daniel Kurtzer on Bloggingheads.tv, a political adviser might now be telling Obama that the Mideast conflict is just not worth his time. Kurtzer, a former ambassador to Egypt and Israel and the editor of the new book "Pathways to Peace: America and the Arab-Israeli Conflict," told Peter why Obama should ignore the nay-sayers and pursue a resolution to this most-intractable of conflicts. Watch the clip below and check out the whole daivlog on Bloggingheads for more.