Palestinians are likely to secure a bare minimum of rights while Israel walks off with the rest

Interesting conclusion to a New York Times Op-Ed by Nadia Hijab about the prospects for a peace settlement during the Obama administration.

So, yes, nothing has changed on the ground yet. But because of the way it works, the Obama administration has a much better chance of bringing peace to the Middle East than its predecessors. Still, before breaking out the champagne, remember that Mr. Obama works within the boundaries of the American establishment.

Within those narrow confines and given the present Israeli-Palestinian power imbalance, the Palestinians are likely to secure a bare minimum of rights while Israel walks off with the rest. Unless, that is, the Palestinians can rapidly tilt the balance in their favor — or unless Israel’s intransigence does it for them.

I am not able to envision a scenario in which an agreed peace is reached between Zionism and the Palestinians in the forseeable future, certainly not in a single or two-term presidency of Barack Obama.

Getting a majority of Lebanese Christians to vote with the side associated with the US and Israel was an impressive feat, but getting a majority of Palestinians to vote on a resolution granting themselves "minimum rights" acceptable to Netanyahu would be far more difficult.