I disagree with your assessment that Obama just talked. At least in Israel there are political ramifications, as his speech is seen as a signal of a new approach to USA-Israel relations. The government is already changing their tone about the two state solutions. The settlement movement declared Obama public enemy number one. They relate to him as "nigger" – "Koshon" in Hebrew.

His speech is seen as a marker of a new attitude that will be followed by action, including freezing of the settlements and giving a real chance for the Palestinians to voice their view on the solution. Obama found the soft belly of Bibi Netanyahu’s government. Most Jews in the USA, and the Obama administration, do not have any understanding of the messianic dreams of the settlers.

However, it could be that I am too optimistic, as I believe that you should watch what politicians do and not what they say. Still, I think that your judgment does not give a reasonable time span or perspective for a new policy to happen.

I think that not only are the settlers afraid of him, but so are Al Qaeda. They notice that Obama presents the Muslim world with new options. He ruins the one-dimensional Bush view of the "axis of evil." Bush made Al Qaeda's work very easy as a recruiting tool. Obama challenges all of us, Jews, Muslims and Christians, to listen to the "other" point of view.

Well, it has been a week since Obama gave his historical speech to the Muslim world in the Mother of the World (Um Al Dunya) in Egypt. Now that the sand has settled and reactions have tempered, it is fair to say that although there was alot of optimism and hype surrounding his landmark speech, not much is going to change. While Muslims can appreciate President Obama for recognizing Islamic achievement throughout history and the need to re-engage based on mutual respect, it will be his actions that will ultimately be judged--particularly concerning the Arab-Israeli/Palestinian-Israeli conflict. 

Israel is continuing its settlements and its policy of displacement. On today's Mosaic, Syria TV reports that a Palestinian man was forced to demolish his home with his own hands so that he would be spared the cost of having to pay for an Israeli bulldozer to do it. Israeli settlers are erecting Obama huts to protest President Obama's calling for a two-state solution and a halt to settlement building. Meanwhile, the Palestinians continue to bicker among themselves over who has the right to represent a people who are becoming more impoverished and more hopeless with every passing day. Arab leaders continue to prove their ineffectiveness as they watch from the sidelines waiting for their cue from Washington, or better yet, Tel Aviv.

Well so much for big talk and small action!

The reaction to the recent nationalist trend in the Israeli parliament has been very negative. As a result, the initiative to make life harder for the Palestinian–Israeli citizens was canceled.

See this YNetnews update for more details.

Still, the undercurrent of total polarization between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Israeli citizens will get stronger. Unless President Obama will signal a new beginning in his speech on the 4th of June, the peace process is frozen.

Polarization will get worse.

David, I agree with you it is a shame that such laws are being implemented in Israel. I share in your outrage. Consecutive Israeli governments have long been annexing Palestinian lands since 1948 and annexing Palestinian culture (i.e. Israeli hummus?) as well as re-writing  history. This is all part of Al Nakba of 1948 (The Catastrophe in Arabic), which Palestinians remember. Israel has been demolishing Palestinian homes for settlement building, razing graveyards, agricultural lands and historical sites. This, in addition to incursions, house invasions, assassinations and bombings, etc. Death and destruction on both sides, committed by both sides. All smaller Nakbas that are ultimately connected to Al Nakba. With this latest move, Israel attempts to further erase Palestinian identity in the country by not allowing the Palestinians to commemorate their own history as they see it.  I am comforted by the fact that Palestinians everywhere will never forget their history or their past. Many of them still hold the key to their homes, which have been either destroyed or taken over.  They dream of the day when they or their children will return to their homeland.

This is an Al Jazeera report that tells the story of the Nakba very well.  

During the recent visit, King Abdullah II of Jordan focused on one subject when talking with Obama: all the roads in the Middle East lead to Jerusalem and Palestine. As Bibi, Israel's new PM, is arriving soon in DC with an Iranian agenda and a timetable, it does not look to me like anyone is on the same page. Israel is organizing a major trial exercise of civil defense in July. Afterwards, all will be ready to attack Iran, unless Obama produces a new understanding with Tehran.

The rhetoric between the President of Iran and Israeli leaders have reached new heights of hate and disinformation. Many times leaders climb up high trees, only to have difficulty descending when the stakes are high. So then war breaks out as words are turned into action, and fighting seems unavoidable. It happened before in our region. The nuclear issue has become a focus for the Israeli goverment, in its relation with the USA. Obama is being tested, as his 'let us talk before we shoot' dialogue diplomacy is only in its infancy. A nuclear Middle East is a nightmare to everyone concerned, and Israel has sworn that Iran will NOT become such a power. There is a timetable of three months before the call will be made by Israeli leaders, and we find out if Obama is helpful, or if his diplomacy is a pie in the sky...