"The new Middle East representative of the Quartet, former Prime Minister Tony Blair knows the issues, is deeply committed to the resolution of the conflict and can operate free of US domestic retraints if he has a mandate from the White House. For his support of the Iraq war, President Bush owes Blair a genuine effort to make progress toward Israeli–Palestinian peace." —Judith Kipper in The Huffington Post. Go to the blog.
"What Israelis and Palestinians seem unclear about is whether Blair will stick to his limited mandate. Will he get stuck into the problems faced by entrepreneurs like Ashraf or will he end up involved in mediation between Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas?" —Richard Colebourn on BBC Newsnight. Go to the blog.
"Blair is welcome in the Fatah–controlled West Bank only as long as he can promise financial aid and weapons. But it's only a matter of time before Blair and Bush wake up to find that Hamas has devoured the West Bank." —Khaled Abu Toameh in Contentions, Commentary Magazine's blog. Go to the blog.
"If Mr Blair entertains the idea of gradually expanding his own mandate, and dreams about jump starting peace talks, he may find that Ms Rice is a no less formidable obstacle than the Israelis and Palestinians." —Ben Lynfield in The Scotsman. Go to the blog.
"If the US and its allies were to take a stand forceful enough to persuade Israel that it will not be allowed to make changes to the pre–1967 situation except by agreement with the Palestinians in permanent status negotiations, there would be no need for complicated peace formulas or celebrity mediators to get a peace process underway. The only thing that an envoy such as Blair can do to put the peace process back on track is to speak the truth about the real impediment to peace." —Henry Seigman in The London Review of Books. Go to the blog.
"Blair's path forward is definitely uphill, but windows of opportunities may be pried open if a new approach is taken, an approach based on sustainability and not only subsistence for Palestinians." —Sam Bahour and Iyad Joudeh in Sabbah's blog. Go to the blog.
