Obama will come to the Middle East in 9 days, talks will begin between Abu Mazen and Bibi - optimistic this time around?

It’s been done before, and there are White House and Camp David and Wye plantation photo ops to prove it; but can Obama pull off what no-one has even come close to in the past: a real peace treaty beween Israel and the Palestinian Authority?

Between you and me, I read something that raised an eyebrow – something that won’t appear in anything but local papers: Israel Railways (read: slowest crappy trains on the planet, but it’s all we got) are working secretly on a line from the Gaza strip (yep – the flotilla destination, but I digress) to Rammalah. With friggin stops on the way in Modiin sity and the Airport. This means that someone is willing to spend a lot of money now, thinking of a very rosy future. Think about it: not a wall, not a fence: a train line connecting the two parts of the Palestinian territories – on Israeli soil, with Israeli money!!!)

So I’m cautiously optimistic, as always. Maybe, just maybe, this weird Obama – Netanyahu thing could work.