Obama wants Israel to surrender the Temple Mount, the Wailing Wall, The Church of the Sepulcher, The Mount of Olives among other sites to the Palis.

Israel is less than impressed.

Pastorius cutting in: Ace's comment sums it up for me,

Very little of this is backed up by any concrete agenda. (Except for us spending money on Egypt and Tunisia, of course.)

In fact, because he wants to excuse his own failures in advance, he repeatedly cries that the US is powerless to shape events and these countries must make their own decisions and their own way (except Israel, of course: Obama has some demands for them).

Over and over, he recapitulates how ineffectual the US is to achieve the very changes he's talking about.

So.
Why.
Bother.

I think the answer to that is, Obama wants to show off to his Muslim friends: "Look Mohammed, no hands.

Get this guy out of office already.

Fox:

Obama: Palestinian State Must Be Based on 1967 Borders

President Obama, delivering his first major address tackling the uprisings in the Middle East, on Thursday endorsed Palestinians' demand for their own state based on the borders that existed before the 1967 Middle East war.

Though the move is likely to aggravate the Israelis, Obama said the United States' commitment to Israeli security is "unshakable." He also rejected attempts by the Palestinians to gain recognition for their own state before the United Nations.

Until Thursday, the U.S. position had been that the Palestinian goal of a state based on the 1967 borders, with agreed land swaps, should be reconciled with Israel's desire for a secure Jewish state through negotiations.

In the speech, Obama also offered an ultimatum to Syrian President Bashar Assad, telling him to either support a democratic transition or "get out of the way."

Speaking at the State Department, the president sought Thursday to squarely align the U.S. with the ambitions of protesters pushing for economic and political reform.

He specifically called out Assad, whose regime has killed hundreds in an effort to quell the unrest in Syria. Obama said the regime must stop shooting and arresting its people.

"President Assad now has a choice. He can lead that transition or get out of the way," Obama said.

Obama also called Al Qaeda and its dead leader Usama bin Laden a "dead end," suggesting the push for reform will represent the future of the region.

He sought to connect the death of bin Laden to the wave of protests, arguing that anti-western rhetoric and attacks are losing their audience. "The slaughter of innocents did not answer their cry for a better life," he said.

Rather, Obama said: "A new generation has emerged and their voices tell us that change cannot be denied."

The president is taking a carrot-and-stick approach as the Arab Spring turns to summer and protesters' demands across the region are met with repression.

After sending U.S. forces into Libya two months ago to halt strongman Muammar al-Qaddafi's advances against his people, the Obama administration sent a message Wednesday to Assad by slapping him and top officials in Damascus with financial sanctions over his regime's brutal crackdown.

Obama, in his speech Thursday, addressed the standoff in these two countries. But he will also offer new levels of support to Egypt and Tunisia, countries where demonstrations ousted entrenched leaders and which the administration plans to hold up as a "beacon" in the region, according to one official. Obama will take fresh steps to encourage reform, in a move one administration official said would create "strong incentives" for other countries to follow suit.

The address includes specific offers of support for Egypt, where the nation's tourism-fueled economy has fallen into a slump in the wake of the upheaval, in turn increasing the country's projected deficit. Obama plans to forgive roughly $1 billion in debt owed by Egypt to free up money for job-creation efforts there. Plus he plans to guarantee up to $1 billion in loans for Egypt through the Overseas Private Investment Corp., a U.S. government institution that mobilizes private capital.

Obama is pushing other steps to bolster loans, trade and international support in Egypt and in Tunisia. Protesters in Bahrain, Yemen, Syria and other nations have endured brutal setbacks.

Obama also is expected to recalibrate the U.S. position on the flailing Israeli-Palestinian peace process. He will warn both sides that they face greater risks by not coming together on a peace deal than by going their own ways. It is an effort in which he has sunk his own political capital and will spend more before his heavy week of Mideast diplomacy ends.

A new poll out of the Pew Research Center found that the shifting political sands in the Middle East have not generally led to an improvement in the U.S. image in the region. The president, though, is under pressure to firm up his stated support for Israel, as he meets this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and addresses AIPAC, the leading Israeli advocacy group in the U.S.

The White House on Wednesday announced the sanctions on Assad and six senior Syrian officials for human rights abuses over their crackdown on anti-government protests.

It was the first time the U.S. personally penalized the Syrian leader for the actions of his security forces. More than 850 people have died since the uprising began in March.

Obama has not called on Assad to step down, but his government came close Wednesday.

"It is up to Assad to lead a political transition or to leave," the State Department said in talking points prepared for the announcement of sanctions.