Tonight:
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AS THE Israeli army waits on Gaza's border, ready to re-invade the territory after the collapse of a ceasefire agreement with the radical Hamas government, the stakes could not be higher for the Middle East. That means it is surely time for President-elect Obama to show that he will put new effort and his uniquely wide support behind a new settlement for Israel and the Palestinians.
His inauguration is more than three weeks away. George Bush is still President. But only a White House initiative from a new American leader prepared to put his authority and popularity on the line could bring meaningful progress.
Around 320 people are believed to have died since the air strikes began, among them what Hamas says are 180 members of its security forces. Yet rockets have continued to fall on Israeli cities. The Islamist movement is calling for a "third intifada" to relaunch resistance to Israel, whose existence it does not recognise.
So the air strikes cannot simply be seen as a disproportionate Israeli response. Hamas's seizure of full control of Gaza has intensified Israel's security dilemmas and set the backdrop for elections due on 10 February. The centrist Kadima party leader Tzipi Livni, committed to a Palestinian state, faces the hardline Likud party under Binyamin Netanyahu and was under huge pressure to contain the rocket attacks after economic sanctions against Gaza did not.
In Britain, amid protests against the Israeli air strikes, the Prime Minister has warned that there could be no military solution. As holding statements go, however, this is not enough. Evidence of support for the relatively moderate Ms Livni, as well as calls to protect Palestinian civilians, is required. Normal diplomatic rules about staying out of other nations' elections can hardly apply to a country that owes its existence to international action.
The broad form of a viable two-state solution, with guarantees of Israeli security as well as compensation and other provision for Palestinians claiming the right of return, enjoys backing from the UN, US, EU and Russia, as well as from the Arab League and moderate Israelis and Palestinians themselves - but it needs Mr Obama to show that he can put some of the prized political capital of an incoming President into the search for peace.
School of life
THE TEENAGERS who have presented a report to Downing Street pointing out that schools are failing to equip them with the right skills show impressive self-knowledge. Many employers agree that too often school and college leavers lack teamwork and communication skills.
Whether this is the fault of an exam-dominated curriculum, however, is another matter. Most jobs in Britain are now in services, not manufacturing. So most employees need people skills of a kind that assembly-line jobs never required.
That said, cutting more out of a curriculum that already fails to equip half of school-leavers with the bare minimum of five good GCSEs is not the answer. Schools and parents need to use sport and charity volunteering to improve pupils' teamwork and communication abilities. And teenagers approaching the labour market should recognise that it is in their own interests to develop these social skills themselves.
And celebrating...
THE THIRTY YEAR RULE. The release of previously secret Cabinet papers after 30 years is always revealing -especially when a weak pound and rising unemployment suggest parallels between 1978 and today. Some things have got better. Back then, the Warsaw Pact threat prompted Prime Minister Callaghan to scribble: "Heaven help us if there is a war!" At least a Soviet air attack is now low down on today's worry list.
Reader views (2)
Almight God sit on his majesty throne looking all human being and reward everybody according to his deeds,
- Hope On God, ONDO STATE - NIGERIAN, 07/01/2009 06:33
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No! There is only one President at a time. For three weeks more that is George Bush.
That said, it is quite legitimate for President Obama, after the Israeli elections, to argue that enough is enough there should be a comprehensive settlement of all issues between Palestine and Israel by January 2011 and a comprehensive Middle East settlement with Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran by December 2012.
Secretary of State Clinton should move into the US Embassy in Baghdad for the duration. She has her work cut out for her and needs to be based in the region if she is to succeed.
- Paul Lettan, Old St Pancras, London, 30/12/2008 22:04
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