President Obama, at his Sept. 10 press conference, abandoned all pretense of an even-handed U.S. role in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks by going public with demands for a major, unilateral concession by Israel -- extension of its 10-month moratorium on construction in West Bank settlements, due to end in two weeks.In return, Obama told reporters he recommended to Mahmoud Abbas only that he reciprocate with unspecified, nice touchy-feely gestures toward Israel.The result is bound to stiffen Israeli resistance to White House pressure to give, give and give some more to the Palestinians, while Mahmoud Abbas gets off-scot free to continue pressing for even more Israeli concessions, while giving nothing in return.  That's not the path toward fruitful negotiations.After coming into office, Obama wasted more than a year with one-sided demands that Israel halt all building in both East Jerusalem and in the West Bank.  When Israel balked and Obama was in danger of a backlash from...(Read Full Post)