When he was running for the White House, Barack Obama warned that a swift resolution to the Israel-Arab conflict might be beyond even his powers. “It’s unrealistic to expect that a US President alone can suddenly snap his fingers and bring about peace in this region,” he said.

Such truths have not prevented President Obama throwing himself with characteristic urgency into an effort to succeed where many of his predecessors have failed. He regards his early peak of global popularity as a time of maximum opportunity. Yesterday General James Jones, his National Security Adviser, told ABC News that there was an “expectation around the world that we are in a moment when we can make progress” in the Middle East, providing America offered “leadership”.

Mr Obama’s meeting next week with Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, will be the first in a series of meetings intended to revive the stalled “peace process”. President Mubarak of Egypt is expected to arrive a week later, followed by Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority. On June 4, Mr Obama will head to Egypt to deliver a major address to a Muslim world that, because of his unusual biography and the measures he has already taken in office, may be disposed to listen.

The plan emerging from Washington resembles those whose wrecks litter the region. It would start with a fully observed ceasefire in Gaza, work through the confidence-building steps of the 1993 Oslo accord, and seek a regional peace deal involving Syria.

The core of any deal remains the creation of an independent Palestinian state — which Mr Netanyahu has so far notably refrained from endorsing.

Last week Vice-President Biden indicated that the Obama Administration may be ready to take a tougher stance towards Israel than Washington has done for many years by saying firmly that Mr Netanyahu “has to work for a two-state solution”. He told a pro-Israel lobby group: “You’re not going to like me saying this — but do not build more settlements, dismantle existing outposts, and allow Palestinians freedom of movement.”

Mr Obama himself has said that he will “actively pursue” the goal of two co-existing states agreed at Annapolis under the Bush Administration. He is also interested in reviving the Saudi-sponsored Arab peace initiative — albeit probably altered to remove a proposal to give five million Palestinian refugees the “right of return”.

Mr Obama is expected to tell Mr Netanyahu that the creation of an international alliance for stronger sanctions against Iran is dependent on Israel’s willingness to make progress on the Palestinian question.

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