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A Mideast Peace Attempt at Calm Before U.N. Storm

By Heather Grossmann | September 22, 2009 4:27pm | Updated on September 22, 2009 3:12pm
President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet in the Oval Office in May of this year.
President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet in the Oval Office in May of this year.
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Executive Office of the President

By Heather Grossmann and Gabriela Resto-Montero

DNAinfo Reporter/Producers

The big news out of President Obama’s meeting this morning with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas was…no news.

On the eve of the 64th annual United Nations General Assembly, the three leaders met at the Waldorf-Astoria, where the first order of business was a handshake—moderated by Obama—between Netanyahu and Abbas.

It was widely-reported that expectations for the meeting were low, and that the Mideast leaders agreed to the talks more in deference to Obama than because of a real desire for progress on negotiations.

"The Americans have failed to convince the Israelis to halt settlement, and now they want a photo opportunity," a Palestinian official said, according to Reuters. "We'll do this not to upset Obama. But it's a victory for Netanyahu."

The president urged the two leaders to restart the peace talks as soon as possible, saying that neither side was doing enough. Obama will send Peace Envoy George Mitchell to meet Israeli and Palestinian negotiators next week, and he asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to follow up with him on the status of the negotiations next month.

Prior to his attempts at peace brokering, Obama spoke at the first-ever Summit on Climate Change.

While many New Yorkers sat idling in traffic, Obama spoke about passing tougher environmental legislation and reducing carbon emissions.

“And I am proud to say that the United States has done more to promote clean energy and reduce carbon pollution in the last eight months than at any other time in our history,” he said in prepared remarks.

Obama signaled a break with President George W. Bush’s administration in the United States approach to the environment and pledged more forceful legislation.

Meanwhile, Chinese Prime Minister Hu Jintao was preparing to reveal a “suite” of environmental goals for his nation that UN Climate Chief Yvo de Boer predicts will make it a leader in the fight against climate change,  The New York Times reports.

The United States and China emit nearly half of the world’s greenhouse gases.

"It will take Chinese emissions very significantly away from where they would have been, and it will take China to become the world leader on addressing climate change," de Boer said, according to the Times. "It will be quite ironic to hear that tomorrow expressed in a country [the United States] that is firmly convinced that China is doing nothing to address climate change."

A diplomatic firestorm could erupt on Wednesday when Obama is scheduled to address the General Assembly on the same day as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy.

Ahmadinejad and Khadafy have already stirred up controversy here in the city.

Last week, the Helmsley Hotel cancelled a long-planned banquet once it learned the Iranian leader was scheduled to attend and speak.  Khadafy was booted from a Bronx mansion Libyan officals had tried to rent.

“I mean, the guy ultimately condones terrorism,” owner John Fitzgerald told the New York Post. “We didn’t think it was appropriate to rent to him.”

The Libyan dictator may have finally found a place to pitch his tent, according to news reports Tuesday afternoon.  The Post reports that he's found a spot in the posh Westchester town of Bedford just down the road from Martha Stewart.

Last week Ahmadinejad sparked outrage by denying the Holocaust and Khadafy irked the United States by throwing a hero’s welcome party for convicted Pan Am flight 103 bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi.