Washington's Middle East conundrum
Settling the settlement issue
One of the main stumbling blocks of the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians is Israel's settlement policy. Around half a million settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Palestinians are demanding a freeze on new settlements before any further peace talks.
Leading the way?
A diplomatic solution appears a long way off. Several attempts to broker peace achieved only short-term successes. The US was usually at the forefront of those efforts.
Tentative talks
Israel had occupied the Palestinian terrorities, such as the town of Hebron, since 1967. Ronald Reagan's proposal in 1982 to grant Palestinians independence in the occupied territories and to put a freeze on further Israeli settlements was rejected by both sides. The Palestinians stuck to their demand of having their own state.
The Oslo opportunity
In 1993 PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minster Yitzhak Rabin signed the Oslo peace accord. As part of Bill Clinton's mediation proposal Israel decides to accept the PLO as the representative of the Palestinians. In return the Palestinians delete the passage from their charter calling for Israel's destruction.
Oslo encore
A second round of Oslo peace talks takes place in 1995. The interim deal on the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, also known as Oslo II, grants the Palestinians autonomy over roughly one third of the West Bank.
Divided city
A meeting between Israel's premier Ehud Barak and PLO leader Yasser Arafat in 2000 at Camp David fails to resolve the dispute over the status of Jerusalem despite Bill Clinton's efforts to mediate.
No progress
George W. Bush invites Israeli premier Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for talks in Annapolis, in an attempt to revive direct peace negotiations. The idea is to pave the way for a two-state solution within a year. However, the initiative soon fizzles out.
Rocky relations
Since taking power in 2009, US President Barack Obama has been calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze further settlements - which in turn has led to frosty ties between the two.
The road to nowhere?
Obama's first trip to the Middle East as president was always unlikely to yield any concrete progress. However he used his visit to improve ties - and his image - with Israel. The Palestinians, on the other hand, were all the more disappointed with his about-turn on the settlements issue by calling for peace talks without a settlement freeze.