ABSTRACT
The Barack Obama administration's approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict from 2009 to 2017 was both similar to and different from the approach of the George W. Bush administration from 2001 to 2009. This chapter analyzes the policies of the two administrations and emphasize the one outcome they had in common: a failure to solve the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. In response to heavy pressure by the United States, Arafat eventually arrested several of the Palestinian officials involved, including a major general in his own security forces and an officer in the Palestinian Authority's naval police. Arafat's death set the stage for another US attempt to revive the Arab-Israeli peace process. Many Middle East observers felt that the Road Map was aimed at merely assuaging the Arabs while the Bush administration was preparing to attack Iraq. The Bush administration deemed both Hamas and Hizbollah to be terrorist organizations linked to Syria and Iran and as enemies of the United States.
