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Abbas: Missing Another Opportunity?

(New York Jewish Week) Editorial - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has convinced President Barack Obama that face-to-face negotiations are preferable to the unproductive, indirect "proximity talks" now underway under the auspices of U.S. envoy George Mitchell. It's hard to argue with his contention that only direct talks between the parties, with Washington playing a supportive but not dominating role, can break through the lengthy Israeli-Palestinian stalemate. As he has done so many times in the past, a timid, shortsighted Abbas is waiting for the U.S. administration to force Israel to make concessions, which he says are necessary to instill confidence among the Palestinian people, without doing much of anything to bolster the confidence of wary Israelis. Abbas has refused to stop the incitement in the schools and media; he has offered no constructive solutions to the huge problems posed by Hamas control of Gaza. His entire strategy seems to be to set new preconditions for direct talks and to try to shift the blame for the ongoing stalemate to Netanyahu. Only direct talks with Israel can lead to the Palestinian state Abbas claims is his No. 1 goal.
2010-08-06 09:14:21
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