Abbas heads to Washington for Obama meet
With pessimism and distrust growing in peace talk, Obama tries to take more proactive role, meet directly with Abbas.
Reuters
Published: 03.16.14
US President Barack Obama will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Washington on Monday to try to break the stalemate, with pessimism growing by the day over the future of Middle East peace talks.
The deadline for the negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, aimed at ending their entrenched conflict, expires next month and Washington is eager to persuade the two sides to prolong their discussions within a new framework. But expectations of imminent progress are minimal.
After eight months of initial talks, and at least 10 trips to the region, US Secretary of State John Kerry sounded unusually gloomy during a Congressional hearing on March 12, indicating that little progress had been made so far.
"The level of mistrust is as large as any level of mistrust I've ever seen," said Kerry, a veteran of Middle East diplomacy. "Neither (side) believes the other is really serious. Neither believes that ... the other is prepared to make some of the big choices that have to be made here."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4499423,00.html