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Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/24/AR2010092405828.html
Palestinian President Abbas Has the Most to Lose
(Washington Post) Editorial - President Obama's ill-advised attempt to force a freeze of Israeli housing construction in Jerusalem and the West Bank could cause the breakdown this weekend of direct talks on a final settlement, only a month after they began. A diplomatic rift over this issue would be senseless. Most Israeli construction now takes place in areas close to Israel that both sides acknowledge it will annex in any final deal. As Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad remarked Wednesday, any building that begins in the next year - the time frame set for the negotiations - will be immaterial to their outcome. The Palestinian president would be foolish to end the talks, postponing Palestinian statehood indefinitely. He would also place himself at greater domestic political risk, since the end of negotiations would empower Palestinian militants.