Condi, the Middle Man.

You can always trust Condi to put a nice glossy coat of fresh spin on a pointless visit to the Middle East. Here's what she had to say:

She said that the two sides reiterated their commitment to the internationally brokered road map to Middle East peace and to "American participation" in negotiations.

"The president and prime minister agreed that they would meet together again soon. They reiterated their desire for American participation and leadership to overcome obstacles, rally regional and international support and move forward toward peace. In that vein, I expect to return to the region soon," she said.

"All three of us affirmed our commitment to a two-state solution, agreed that a Palestinian state cannot be born of violence and terror," she said.

I'm sure the Palestinians really adore "American participation" in the peace process. It must be a deep joy to sit there with the Israelis and a referee that is almost welded to the Israeli position.

Of course, the real way to achieve some kind of progress in the Middle East would be to cut the Americans out of the process altogether and allow the Europeans and the Russians to act as middle men. The reason Israel are so keen to have Americans as their "middle man" is because the Americans are no such thing.

America "understands" the Israeli position whereby the Europeans and the Russians, former colonialists to a man, would recognise Israel's arguments as old fashioned colonialism in a second and dispense with it.

Israel suffers no such discomfort when the Americans are in the middle chair. When America acts as referee Israel is allowed to discuss "security", which is really simply a charming euphemism for land theft. Indeed, at Bush's last meeting with Sharon he attempted to rip up international law and declare illegal Israeli settlements as "facts on the ground". He called the plan, "bold". Most of us prefer the old fashioned term, "jaw dropping illegality".

However, despite giving this meeting a coat of her finest gloss, there were some tell tale signs that little Condi was, as usual, being less than frank with us.

Neither Abbas nor Olmert joined Rice as she delivered her brief statement to reporters, and she exited the room without taking questions.

Oh, it went that well did it?

Rice, who did not hold a press conference as previously planned, clarified to Abbas that United States' policy toward the unity government would only be defined after it has been formed and has formulated its foreign policy. The secretary of state said the policies of the unity government would be evaluated on the basis of its adherence to the terms of the Quartet, i.e. recognition of Israel, recognition of signed agreements and rejection of all forms of terror.

Abbas asked Rice to consider the positive aspects of the Mecca Agreement, for instance Hamas' undertaking to honor the decisions of the Palestinian National Council, which include the Oslo Accords and mutual recognition with Israel.

Abbas can point this eminently sensible stuff out till he's blue in the face, but the entire thing is a red herring. Israel are only insisting that Hamas "recognise Israel" because they appreciate that this is impossible to do and, as long as it's impossible to do, Israel can avoid negotiations.

I mean, seriously, what Israel should Hamas recognise? An Israel that includes the West Bank and Gaza? An Israel that includes the settlements? How about the Golan Heights? The Shebaa Farms? It seems churlish in the extreme for Israel to ask for recognition when she steadfastly refuses to define her own borders.

Indeed, one of the very things that Olmert has insisted on is that Israel cannot negotiate with the Palestinians on this subject and that he intends to define Israel's borders unilaterally.

It's quite astonishing that Rice is acting as if all of this is unknown to her. And, lest we forget, when Syria recently attempted to make peace with Israel even John Edwards dismissed their overtures immediately by declaring that, "talk is cheap." Does anyone seriously believe that, were Hamas to say that they formally recognised Israel, that their overtures wouldn't be similarly dismissed as a cynical, "they'll say anything" attempt to have sanctions lifted?

That's why Israel recently added to their demands that the new Palestinian Unity government must not only comply with the Quartet's conditions but that they must also "act on them".

This gives Israel yet another hoop that they can demand the Palestinians jump through before Israel will enter into negotiations. Negotiations that Olmert has made perfectly clear that he doesn't want. Unless, of course, the Palestinians can elect "a civilised government prepared to make compromises."

In other words, a government that aren't going to be intransigent enough to demand that Israel does anything as rash as comply with international law; which requires that the Israelis vacate the illegal settlements, allow the Palestinians a capital in East Jerusalem and either compensate or repatriate Palestinian refugees.

So Condi will, in a couple of weeks, announce that - tragically and unfortunately - the Palestinians have not formed a unity government that Israel and the US can recognise and the Israelis are, once again, desperately keen to talk but lack that fabled "partner for peace" that is always so bloody elusive.

Then we can all tut and mutter about how the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

The Middle Man. US style. Doncha love it?

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Tags: Rice, Olmert, Abbas, peace talks, Gaza, West Bank, Israel, Palestine