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Analysts Play Down Expectations from Obama-Abbas-Netanyahu Talks

[Xinhua-China] David Harris - There are increasing signs that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will meet Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu later this month, with U.S. President Barack Obama chairing the session. However, Israeli analysts are playing down the chances of an early breakthrough in Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. "At this time, the Palestinians are too divided, and their leaders are too weak to make the historic compromise that is necessary for a stable two-state solution," said Gerald Steinberg, a professor of political science at Israel's Bar-Ilan University. Steinberg argues that the central issues have been in existence for 60 years, since Israel's creation, and that Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank are merely "symptoms." Tackling the symptoms will not resolve the underlying problems, he says. "After so many failed peace efforts, Israelis, and not only Netanyahu, want the assurance of a permanent peace through the recognition of the right of the Jewish nation to self-determination. This has always been the main source of the conflict."
2009-09-02 08:00:00
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