(Washington Post) Editorial - Something surprising happened Tuesday in a Middle East diplomatic landscape that most people assumed was frozen over: Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met face-to-face for the first time in 16 months. Encouragingly, the session ended with an agreement to continue the low-level contact. Unfortunately, the odds remain high against real movement toward a peace deal. Palestinian President Abbas dispatched his negotiator to Tuesday's meeting to avoid being blamed by the Quartet for causing the stillbirth of its latest peace plan. But his disinterest in dealing with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is manifest in his continuing preconditions for formal negotiations.
2012-01-04 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive