MIDDLE EAST US presidents always claim commitment to Middle East peace, yet rarely, if ever, use their leverage to deliver it. That is why the so-called “peace process” has become a game of pretence, conveniently played to avoid what it is meant to achieve.
George W. Bush was a latecomer but still a master at the game. He was the first US leader to declare unequivocally (over and over again) that Palestinians will have their own independent state. But he embraced many of the Israeli policies that undermined statehood.
