Can the Belfast peacemaker walk on water once more – in Jerusalem?

PRESIDENT Obama hopes the Middle East peace talks set to begin later this week could reach agreement within a year.

That seems highly optimistic, but even allowing for the inevitable pauses and walkouts, if all goes well he could go into the 2012 presidential election with an enormous foreign policy achievement to his name.

The White House says it expects Israel and the Palestinians to show they are serious about a comprehensive peace. Travelling in the Middle East this week, talking to both Israelis and Palestinians, I have every sense that they are. However, there is a ‘but’ – several big ‘buts’ in fact.