Condi plays lame duck (again) in the Middle East

Condoleezza Rice held talks in Israel and Iraq today, as part of her regional tour of the Middle East. She was expected to put pressure on Israel to ease its border restrictions on Gaza, amid growing concerns that border closures are causing “intolerable” human rights conditions there. And she met with Mahmoud Abbas yesterday to discuss how to break the stalemate on a unity government with Hamas. Recent outbreaks of violence between Hamas and Fatah militants only prolong the Western boycott and leave the pseudo-autonomous government crippled by near bankruptcy.

But Rice’s attempts at reigniting peace talks in the Middle East are again disappointing. She brings no new ideas to the complex situation between Israel and the Palestinians – urging a halt to the violence in the territories, but not budging on the conditions of the U.S. boycott, or even imaginatively addressing the financial crisis of the Palestinian Authority. And with no clear plan, she seems to default to the usual tricks – like playing lip service to the two-state solution. Perhaps she should have stayed in Washington.