The news here has been discussing Secretary Rice’s ME visit in which she hopes to discuss getting the two-state solution back on track. Reading from various newspapers, it is my understanding that they are looking for broad-based support. Curiously, however, it seems that key players will likely not be in attendance.

The Jerusalem Post had the following to say in today’s edition: “Senior Israeli officials said that while Saudi participation was desirable, the key was to get “open support” for the diplomatic process and a two-state solution to the conflict “from additional players.” The officials said that this “broad support” could be gained even if the Saudis did not show up, if countries such as Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Morocco attended”.

OK, to be fair, the Islamic Middle East is not just Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, etc. and should include the other countries mentioned above, but since Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon share borders with Israel and the Palestinian Territories, one would think that their presence would be mandatory. One also has to wonder why Iraq wasn’t mentioned in the list of countries attending. Of course, that’s not to say that they won’t. It might just have been excluded from the Post’s article. However, if they are truly staying away, one must wonder how effective this conference will be if the US cannot even get an ally like the new Iraqi government to press for peace and the two-state solution.