Dr. James Zogby

In the News

JZ Featured Guest for The Economist's Live Debate

Posted on Tuesday July 28, 2009

On Monday, July 27th, Dr. Zogby was the featured guest for The Economist’s live debate.

Daniel Levy, Senior Fellow and Director of the Middle East Task Force, New America Foundation, and David Frum, Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute & Editor of NewMajority.com, have been debating whether or not President Obama is an honest broker between Israel and the Arabs.

Dr. Zogby wrote, “During the lead-up to the 2008 presidential contest, in remarks addressed to Arab Americans, the then senator, Barack Obama, committed to begin working from “day one” to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, adding that he understood that this issue was ‘important to Arab Americans, important to American Jews and important to me’.

“True to his word, on day one in the Oval Office President Obama called the heads of the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Jordan and Israel. On day two, he appointed the former senator, George Mitchell, as Middle East peace envoy, and on day three he gave a wide-ranging interview to the Al-Arabiya television network.

“Since then, in an effort to prepare the ground for renewed negotiations, the president has laid down firm markers for all. To the Israelis and Palestinians, he made clear that the terms of the road map and the conditions of the Quartet (US, EU, UN, Russia) must be met. And he has pressed Arab leaders to take steps to elaborate on the Arab peace initiative in order to play their part in advancing the peace process.”

Click here to read the full article and follow the live debate.