The surprising announcement of President Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize received immediate headlines in Israel, with the right wing fearing that he will redouble his efforts to force a two state solution. Let's hope that is true. Arafat didn't deserve his award, we can see that in retrospect. And, it's not clear that Shimon Peres deserved his either. So maybe this prospective notion isn't such a bad idea.

As events in Jerusalem have shown these last few weeks, a stasis--the goal of Israeli PM Netanyahu--is simply unexceptable. President Obama needs to make certain that he uses his prestige to make clear to Americans and to the people of Israel that a two state solution is in their interest and of the utmost necessity.
The PA leadership can't sustain the economic growth and quiet that they have achieved on the West Bank without a clear political horizon.
Hamas, which has signficantly weakened in Gaza, will strengthen if this stalemate continues.
And Israel continues to lose global prestige precisely at a time when it could be soaring in the arts, high tech, science and creativity.
Rumors at the beginning of the Nobel season were that Amos Oz, the wordly Israeli novelist and indefatigable peace campaigner, was slated to win for ltierature, instead though, the award went to an obscure Romanian writer. Israelis felt a bit let down, even though one of the awards for Chemistry went to an Israeli scientist. But if a year from now real progress is made on the Israel-Palestine conunundrum, the prize will have served Israelis well.