This just in--Speaker Pelosi's office sent out a press release this morning announcing that she will address the Israeli Knesset this Sunday. Pelosi will be in Israel leading a bipartisan congressional delegation and she will also meet with Palestinian President Abu Mazen. This is striking for several reasons, the most important of which is that President Bush has yet to step foot on Israeli soil as the President of the United States. He did so when he was Governor of Texas.

Pelosi's appearance in Israel --and President Bush's non-appearance, is yet another example of how lax this Administration has been in dealing with the Israel/Palestine issue...

The meeting of Arab states in Saudi Arabia is an historic moment that must not be dismissed by the U.S. or Israel, yet due to the weak leadership in America and in Israel today, it just might be.

When Egyptian President Anwar Sadat came to Israel, he showed the Israelis that there was someone with whom they could talk, who would recognize their status as a nation in the region. Now, the Saudis, in their own way, are doing the same, along with the slim, but still hopeful, chance that there could be a resolution to the Israeli/Palestininian conflict. But, the leadership in Israel, under Ehud Olmert, is the weakest --and perhaps most corrupt--in Israel's history. And with a White House under seige, it's difficult to see what Condi Rice can pull off without extra reinforcement from President Bush himself. yet, the stakes couldn't be higher--for the U.S., for stability in the region, and for Israel and the Palestinians.

Read more »