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Source: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=253084
Expect No Breakthrough in Israel-PA Negotiations during U.S. Election Year
(Jerusalem Post) David Makovsky - After 16 months of no negotiations, Israeli and Palestinian officials met in Amman last week and again this week. All sides agree that there will be no territorial breakthrough during an American election year, and the debates are for policymakers since the publics remain skeptical of the other side's sincerity for peace. Palestinians associated with Abbas' foreign policy negotiating team argue that the best way to insulate the PA from the wrath of the Arab Awakening is through continued defiance of Israel. They also believe that diplomatic defiance of Israel will help Fatah to compete with Hamas in the May elections, especially given the political boost that Hamas may get from the current Islamist electoral wave in the Arab world. The writer is Director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.