M.J. Rosenberg - December 10, 2008, Talking points Memo — spins a trip by Obama to an Arab Capital into a push for a peace deal:

Yesterday he told the Chicago Tribune that he will be going to a Middle East capital (probably Cairo) as soon as he takes office to tell the Arab world (and the Israelis) that the bad old days are over.  The Obama administration will put all its weight behind peace and, reading between the lines, behind the Arab League initiative which offers Israel full peace and normalization of relations with all 22 Arab states in exchange for a Palestinian state in West Bank/Gaza and East Jerusalem.

While it would be nice to see a big and expensive push for peace shake up the equilibrium of low-intensity-conflict in Israel, Rosenberg might be reading too much into what Obama said, namely:

WASHINGTON, (AFP) – President-elect Barack Obama plans to give “a major address” in an Islamic capital soon after taking office as he seeks to mend America’s image in the Muslim world, a Chicago Tribune interview said.

“I think we’ve got a unique opportunity to reboot America’s image around the world and also in the Muslim world in particular,” Obama said in the interview published late Tuesday on the Tribune’s website.

Obama promised an “unrelenting” desire to “create a relationship of mutual respect and partnership in countries and with peoples of good will who want their citizens and ours to prosper together.”

The world “is ready for that message.”