He's really screwed up here ...

Benjamin Kerstein does a much better job than I ever could of explaining just how bad a job Obama has done trying to guide the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians.

Obama’s failure in this regard is not merely the result of the fact that he pushed for negotiations when conditions were far from ideal. In fact, Obama sabotaged the peace process from the outset, largely through his own incompetence. By opening his presidency with a demand for an Israeli settlement freeze, including in Jerusalem and its environs, he pushed both parties into a corner. Netanyahu could not agree to such a freeze without endangering his governing coalition, and Abbas could not negotiate without it. As a result, demands on both parties were too high before negotiations even began. The impasse at which we now find ourselves is the inevitable outcome.

Read the whole thing. Hat tip to Michael Totten.