Palestine's state of mind

Speaking at the UN General Assembly on September 23, 2010, Obama said that he hoped that "when we come back here next year, we can have an agreement that will lead to a new member of the United Nations - an independent, sovereign state of Palestine, living in peace with Israel." Palestinians decided to take Obama at his word.

Obama's efforts to rekindle the Middle East peace process began with Israel's refusal to carry out a temporary settlement freeze. The United States was even willing to offer a US $3 billion arms deal to Israel in return for the suspension of building Jewish-only settlements in areas earmarked for the Palestinian state. But Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, rejected the US offer.