Continue reading

11-01-09 Obama:'Much more determined' to break Mideast deadlock

President-elect Barack Obama said Sunday the suffering on both sides of Gaza's borders has led him to ramp up his commitment to working for a peace deal in the Middle East."When you see civilians,whether Palestinian or Israeli,harmed,under hardship,it's heartbreaking.And obviously what that does is it makes me much more determined to try to break a deadlock that has gone on for decades now," he told ABC's "This Week."Rejecting criticism that he has been relatively quiet on the violence in Gaza,Obama said he believes "the one area where the principle of 'one president at a time' has to hold is when it comes to foreign policy.We cannot have two administrations at the same time simultaneously sending signals in a volatile situation."But what I am doing right now is putting together the team so that on January 20,starting on day one,we have the best possible people who are going to be immediately engaged in the Middle East peace process as a whole,that are going to be engaging with all of the actors there,that will work to create a strategic approach that ensures that both Israelis and Palestinians can meet their aspirations,"he said