For reasons of his own, Ba-rack Obama chose to disregard the advice he got from many quarters that he should spell out his views on Palestinian statehood before Israel's voters went to the polls on February 10th. That is a pity. Israelisrndisagree about many things, but most understand the value of having a prime minister who is liked and welcomed in the White House. Had Mr Obama made it clearer before the election that he is impatient to see Israel withdraw from the bulk of the West Bank and the creation there and in Gaza of an in-rndependent Palestinian state, more Israelis might have cast their vote for Tzipi Livni, the leader of Israel's centrist Kadima party. Ms Livni showed as foreign minister during Israel's recent Gaza war that she is no cooing dove. But she appears genuinely to believe not only in the possibility but also in the urgency of negotiating a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
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