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Obama Set Ramadan Deadline for Deal on Peace Talks

9:55 AM, Aug 26, 2009 • By MICHAEL GOLDFARB
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The Guardian reports on a possible deal to restart peace talks between Israel and the Arabs:

Obama has pencilled in the announcement of his breakthrough for either a meeting of world leaders at the UN general assembly in New York in the week beginning 23 September or the G20 summit in Pittsburgh on 24-25 September.

The president, who plans to make his announcement flanked by Netanyahu and the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas - plus the leaders of as many Arab states as he can muster - hopes that a final peace agreement can be negotiated within two years, a timetable viewed as unrealistic by Middle East analysts.

Obama had hoped to unveil his plans before the start of Ramadan last weekend but failed to complete the deal with the Israelis or the Arab states in time.

Perhaps Obama has imposed a Yom Kippur deadline for some kind of movement in his diplomatic outreach to Iran? Bilateral negotiations with the North Koreans in time to mark the Juche New Year? Or are all of Obama's foreign policy initiatives pegged to the Islamic calendar? Meanwhile, the date on our calendar that has more recently been marked by commemorations in honor of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon will be approriated by the Obama administration as a national day of service.

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