Biden has an unexpected chance to make peace in the Middle East

TOM FRIEDMAN: As the 1973 Yom Kippur war showed, breakthroughs can happen when all sides are reeling, as the three key players are now

Biden's sudden opportunity to make Mideast peace (NYT/Star Tribune)
TOM FRIEDMAN: Breakthroughs can happen when all sides are reeling, as they are now.
Leon Trotsky once supposedly observed, "You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you." To President Joe Biden I'd say today, "You may not be interested in Middle East peacemaking, but Middle East peacemaking is interested in you."

Here's why: All three key players in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have been dealt some huge painful shocks over the past year. They know, deep down, that another round of fighting like the one we saw in the past two weeks could unleash disastrous consequences for each of them. Henry Kissinger forged the first real peace breakthrough between Israelis and Arabs after they were all reeling, vulnerable and in pain as a result of the 1973 War. They each knew that something had to change.

Today, if you look and listen closely, you can sense a similar moment shaping up in the wake of the latest Hamas-Israel war.

A new US approach to Hamas could be in the making (Haaretz)
A 2018 report co-written by a Biden official makes the case for Washington to encourage Palestinian unity in order to break the years-long diplomatic stalemate

Israel, Hamas to hold talks in Cairo; Qatar pledges $500 million for Gaza (Ynet)
Energy-rich Gulf country pledges to boost international reconstruction efforts in Hamas-controlled enclave, while Egypt calls on Israelis and the terror group to restart talks on long-term ceasefire

Photo: Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, US President Jimmy Carter and Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat meet for talks at Camp David 1978 (AAP/UIG/Universal History Archive)