First, it should reexamine its overall approach to resolving the conflict and explore other approaches. Since it has decided against the advice of some to get out in front of these efforts at the United Nations and shape a solution, it should look for ways it might reformulate the overall approach. The Middle East Quartet-a consensus group including the United States, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations-has been a main vehicle for managing the largely moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace track for years, yet it has not achieved substantial progress on the negotiations front. The Obama administration should examine whether there are other parties that have the trust and confidence of the Palestinian and Israeli leaders-countries that might serve to bridge the great divides between Israelis and Palestinians.
Second, as President Bill Clinton said last week, the Arab Peace Initiative is a "heck of a deal," yet the Obama administration never really did anything to link this to its efforts on the Israeli-Palestinian front. First introduced nearly a decade ago, the Arab Peace Initiative was an opening offer to discuss a comprehensive peace deal between Israel and all of its neighbors. Some strategic reformulation of the international mechanisms aimed at motivating Israelis and Palestinians to strike a deal will likely be necessary if the parties remain stuck.
At a minimum, the United States should work quietly to ensure security coordination mechanisms are in place within the region to help deescalate tensions that may arise in the coming weeks. This means working with the Egyptian authorities to ensure Israel's southern border with Egypt and the Gaza Strip remain peaceful.
This also requires the continued support and coordination with Palestinian Authority institutions in the West Bank. My colleague Peter Juul, who just returned from Israel and the West Bank, lays out the substantial downsides to cutting aid to the Palestinian Authority here. Threats to cut assistance to the Palestinian Authority could end up being self-defeating by undermining the overall security situation.
The Obama administration's complicated multitasking in the Middle East faces a new challenge from the Palestinians' gambit at the United Nations. The administration needs to take steps to ensure the efforts do not undermine an already fragile security situation. But it also needs to think beyond the current formula presented by the Middle East Quartet. The region is changing, and the way that the United States deals with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot remain stuck in the past.
