Israeli Defense Minister and Egyptian President talk Hamas, U.S. military plane enters Venezuelan airspace, plus Obama's working class cred.

Barak, Mubarak Talk Hamas:
In an unexpected show of diplomacy, Israeli Defense Minister and former Prime Minister Ehud Barak met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in talks on forging a truce and peace deal with Hamas, the insurgency group that controls the Palestinian Authority's parliament.

Speaking at the longtime Middle East negotiations hub and Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, Barak said that any long-term deal with Hamas must include a complete cessation of rocket fire on, and suicide bombings in, Israeli communities. He also argued that the release of Israeli Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit must come unconditionally and should be separated from a broader accord with Hamas.

Back in the Saddle?
Barak is positioning himself for a return to the Prime Minister position in Israel's next general election. Though current Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's term does not end until December 2010, many, including Barak, believe that the majority Kadima Party will call a snap-election early next year, if not in late 2008, especially in light of a recently announced corruption probe facing Olmert, which, given more time, could debilitate Kadima's chances of retaining majority status.

Benjamin Netanyahu, who controls Israel's right-wing Likud Party and is also a former prime minister, has polled well in recent surveys and seems well-positioned to take the top spot in a general election. However, Barak has been expressly more committed to winning a lasting peace deal with outside Arab parties than the hawkish Netanyahu, and voters will face a stark difference in choosing between the two. Depending on political winds when the election is finally called, either candidate may well overcome Olmert and have a second go at prime minster.

U.S. Warplane Enters Venezuelan Aircraft, Infuriates Chavez:
The official line from Washington read that a U.S. Naval plane running an anti-narcotics mission veered off course and inadvertently entered Venezuelan airspace. Unsurprisingly, the Andean country's staunchly anti-U.S. President, Hugo Chavez, remained less than convinced. In announcing the event, Chavez's Defense Minister Gustavo Rangel called the mishap 'just the latest step in a series of provocations' by Washington, which is in line with the president's contention that the U.S. is preparing to invade Venezuela.

Tensions between Washington and Caracas have been strained for some time, with Bush accusing his Venezuelan counterpart of posing a serious threat to democracy and open commerce, More recently, President Bush and Colombian leader Alvaro Uribe have accused Chavez of providing significant financial and logistical support to the Colombian rebel group, the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC).

For his part, Chavez accuses the Bush Administration of human rights violations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, as well as promoting a political and economic doctrine that seeks to keep low-income countries in perpetual poverty and politically disaffected. He has also sought closer unity with left-leaning governments across Latin America as a means of containing Washington's designs on a 'Free Trade of the Americas' pact, which would remove tariffs on the imports and exports exchanged between North and South American countries, bringing them to a new and unprecedented plane of economic intimacy.

The U.S. naval plane's penetration of Venezuelan airspace will only add fuel to the fire of Chavez's already vicious rhetorical assault, and he will likely use it as evidence to advance his alarmist and unfounded claims that Washington is 'coming'. While it is unexpected that savvy diplomatic jujitsu on the part of the Bush Administration will temper Chavez's outrage, one hopes that tensions between the two players do not get out of hand.

Obama and the Everyday Voter:
Finally, we blogged yesterday that we'd have a piece shortly regarding the thrashing Barack Obama's taken in recent weeks regarding his ability to connect with everyday voters. I am currently working on a posting that deduces the authenticity of the likely Democratic and GOP nominees' claims on understanding the plight of working-class Americans. Stay tuned in the coming days, as this entry comes online.

The New Mexico sun has set, and it's time for this teacher to prepare for another day of school. Enjoy your Tuesday, and check in again manana!