U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to present Israel with a series of "red lines" it wants Israel to incorporate into its planned dialogue with the Palestinians about Israel’s withdrawal to the ’67 borders.

Clinton arrived in Israel Monday night and will meet with various Israeli officials Tuesday.

The red lines were jointly formulated by Obama, Mitchell and Clinton.

1. Any dialogue must be both preceded by and accompanied by harsher sanctions against Israel, both within the framework of the UN Security Council and outside it. Otherwise, the talks are liable to be perceived by both Israel and the international community as acceptance of Israel's occupation of the West Bank.

2. Before the dialogue begins, the U.S. should formulate an action plan with Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain regarding what to do if the talks fail. Specifically, there must be an agreement that the talks' failure will prompt extremely harsh international sanctions against Israel.

3. A time limit must be set for the talks, to prevent Israel from merely buying time to complete its settlement programme. The talks should also be defined as a "one-time opportunity" for Israel.

4. Timing is critical, and the U.S. should consider whether it makes sense to begin the talks before the next fascist is in power in Israel.