Speaking to the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, President Barack Obama gave what some are calling a mixed message, holding out a fig leaf to Russia but calling for Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to be replaced. Despite the president’s willingness to accept a “managed transition” to remove Assad, there is no sign that Russia is willing to support the Syrian leader’s removal under any terms. Obama also criticized Moscow for its violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty, but the rhetoric failed to offer any solutions to the issue at hand. Regional commentators took note of the blaring absence of interest in the Palestinian issue at the UN session despite the rebuke of Israel by some speakers. The ongoing violence on the Temple Mount was referenced by Jordan’s King Abdullah II while Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff led-off the speeches with criticism of Israeli building in post-1967 areas. For President Obama and Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif, their words failed to carry the impact of a handshake on the sidelines – the first US-Iranian handshake that included the US president since the 1979 revolution. Palestinian chief negotiator Sa’ib Erekat immediately criticized President Obama for ignoring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Weaving a connection to the issues of ISIS and Syria which did receive considerable attention by the speakers at the UN, Erekat asked, “Does President Obama think that he can fight terror and defeat ISIS and achieve peace and stability in the Middle East by continually ignoring the occupation and Israeli settlements in the West Bank and continued aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque?”