The transitional government must first focus on internal security, reconciliation, and economic development to provide a strong foundation for free national elections and stable new political order.

The effusive standing ovations Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received during his speech to a joint session of Congress despite his recent public clashes with President Obama, raised anew questions of the power and influence of the so-called "Israel lobby," led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Israelis and Palestinians must coexist in peace and eventually allow for free movements of people and good between the two sides

Coexistence between Israel and the Palestinians is inevitable and, short of catastrophic developments, the two peoples are doomed or destined to live between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River.

President Obama should seek a UN resolution that reflects his own conviction of a two-state solution for the two peoples

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that the Palestinians recognize the State of Israel as a Jewish state, his policies encourage a mass exodus of Jewish Israelis from the country. Today, the notion of a Jewish refuge in the land of Israel is greatly at risk. Much has been made of what former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert once called a "demographic time bomb," with the Palestinian birthrate soon to have the number of Palestinians exceed that of Israelis between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Yet Palestinian demographics aside, more Israelis are living abroad than ever, and many Israeli residents are eager to join them.

Israel and Hamas are currently locked in a perpetual standoff. Hamas is emboldened by the flurry of international attention on the situation in Gaza, despite the improved conditions following the ease of the blockade by Israel after the first flotilla episode and Egypt's opening of the border crossing.

On the surface, the current stalemate in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process seems illogical. After all, each side knows, with the exception of the Netanyahu government, that the basic framework of a negotiated settlement: a two-state solution based on the 1967 border with land swaps that keep the major settlement blocs inside Israel proper.

The fact that Israeli and Turkish officials have begun to renew dialogue at a time of significant uncertainty and turmoil in the broader Middle East is, of course, no coincidence. Israel and Turkey are rare anchors of stability in an increasingly volatile region.