WASHINGTON — After months of quiet U.S. diplomacy, Israeli and Palestinian leaders appear poised to announce a resumption of direct peace talks, perhaps as early as this week.
Nearly two years after the last round of talks broke off, U.S. and allied officials in recent days cleared the final hurdle by persuading Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to take a seat at the negotiating table, officials say.
Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s top foreign policy official, said in a letter to European officials Friday that Abbas might make an official commitment in the next few days to talks that could begin later this month.
The announcement will come as a relief for the Obama administration, which has had little to show for an 18-month slog on one of the president’s top foreign policy priorities. Progress toward peace is viewed by Obama administration officials as key to building support in the Muslim world for other urgent U.S. goals, including the war in Afghanistan, and the effort to halt Iran’s nuclear program.
Yet the talks will begin in an atmosphere of deep pessimism.
Though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is ready to make “painful sacrifices” for peace, his government and the parliament, the Knesset, may be among the most conservative in Israel’s history. On the Palestinian side, Abbas’ ability to deliver on an agreement is in question: The Hamas militant group, not his government, controls the Gaza Strip, where 1.5 million Palestinians live.
One measure of the pessimism surrounding the effort is the relative lack of attention that the approach of new, direct talks has received in the region.
Previously, for instance, the prospect of active negotiations would generate noisy demonstrations by Israelis worried about what their government would give up. This time, the protesters are staying home, analysts note.
