Where Obama failed on forging peace in the Middle East

The enduring traits of the conflict, whose resolution Obama elevated to “a vital national security interest of the United States,” made it particularly resistant to his preferred methods of diplomacy. His appeals to the shared interests of countries at war and at peace have achieved some success, including in Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.

But the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — haunted by the Holocaust and the perceived injustice of a Palestinian land lost in war — resisted the natural give-and-take of negotiation that Obama counted on. It is a conflict more bound up in domestic politics than any other foreign policy issue, which he learned first in his 2008 campaign and later in the Oval Office.

Gallery

Obama’s rocky road in the Middle East: After calling for a “new beginning” early in his term, the president soon learned why the Israel-Palestine issue has vexed his predecessors for decades.

Evolution of a president

This is the third in an occasional series of stories assessing President Obama's first term — his record, governing methods and political beliefs.

Behind the failed 'grand bargain'

Peter Wallsten, Lori Montgomery and Scott Wilson MAR 17

PART 1 | Last summer's attempted debt deal reflected the pitfalls of Obama's grand ambitions and set the tone for a more partisan path.

Obama's uneasy alliance with the left

Peter Wallsten JUN 10

Part 2 | The president often bristles at would-be supporters' tactics, many of which he used as a community organizer.

Obama’s inability to bring Israelis and Palestinians together is especially problematic today, as the Arab Middle East remakes itself and Israel, more isolated than ever, weighs a military strike against Iran. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is scheduled to head to Israel this week. And Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney is planning to visit later this month, injecting Obama’s record on the Israeli-Palestinian issue into the heart of a fierce campaign.

“I know that many are frustrated by the lack of progress,” Obama said last fall at the U.N. General Assembly. “Peace is hard work.”

Battling Clinton in the 2008 Democratic primaries, Obama faced long odds contending for Jewish support. His middle name, Hussein, increased the already formidable challenge she posed for the Jewish vote, mostly by raising suspicions about his past and his religious character.

“The bar was higher for him,” said Ben Rhodes, who wrote Obama’s foreign policy speeches during the campaign and is now a deputy national security adviser. “He faced a level of scrutiny — and, frankly, a level of dishonesty in politics — that he had to answer to.”

In February 2008, as the crucial Ohio primary approached, Obama met in Cleveland with about 100 Jewish community leaders, hoping that a candid conversation would dispel some of the concerns rising on the campaign trail.

As a candidate of change, he made clear that he was willing to say things that his predecessors were not.

“I think there is a strain within the pro-Israel community that says unless you adopt an unwavering pro-Likud approach to Israel that you’re anti-Israel,” Obama said, referring to a hawkish Israeli political party that did not recognize a Palestinian right to a state. “That can’t be a measure of our friendship with Israel.”

A little over a year later, Obama was working with the Likud party chief, Benjamin Netanyahu, who was elected Israel’s prime minister for a second time not long after Obama took the oath of office.

The weeks-long war between Israel and armed Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip had been over officially for two days.

But Obama had promised during the campaign that he would begin a push for peace at once, regardless of the regional mood. On his second day in office, he named former Senate majority leader George J. Mitchell (D-Maine) as his special envoy for Middle East peace.