Next, Thicket of Arab-Israeli Conflict Awaits Obama

With the war leg of his foreign tour behind him, Barack Obama must next navigate the Middle East peace process. He’ll meet with top Israeli and Palestinian leaders tomorrow, the New York Times reports, and will visit the rocket-bombarded town of Sderot. US Jewish voters will be particularly attentive after the Democrat’s recent slip over the status of Jerusalem.

Separately, the Times spoke to citizens across the Middle East, who roundly doubt Obama would “fundamentally recalibrate” the US role in the peace process—instead, continuing to favor Israel. Arab reactions varied from “This one is like the other one … don’t expect change,” to “Yes they are all bad, but still, Obama might be a little less bad.” (More Barack Obama stories.)