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Source: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/checkpoint-washington/2010/07/just_days_after_president_obam.html
Reinventing the Wheel in the Middle East
(Washington Post) Glenn Kessler - Just days after President Obama called for direct talks to begin between Israelis and Palestinians, PA President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday appeared to reject the idea, saying it would be "pointless and futile" unless the two sides first reach agreement on the parameters of the talks. For many outside observers, that sounds like arguing about the size of the table. Why not start talks immediately, without preconditions, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to do? After all, everyone knows what needs to be discussed. The difficulty ahead is best illustrated by comparing the situation today with the last time serious talks were launched, at Annapolis in late 2007. Then, Abbas and Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister at the time, had already spent months meeting with each other and building an atmosphere of trust. Lower-level Israeli and Palestinian officials had also met repeatedly and were prepared for real talks. The two sides actually discussed some of the most sensitive issues between them. Even then, they did not reach a deal. Yet, despite special envoy George Mitchell's repeated trips to the region, that level of trust does not exist between Netanyahu and Abbas. That is the missing ingredient.