Abbas: Palestinians, Israel were two months away from inking peace deal

Oslo 1993 Jordan 1997 Barak 2000 Sharon 2005 Olmert 2008 Plus, Egypt 1979, Jordan 1997

a centrist party is best for Israel and Kadima Knesset members were realistic more than the current Likud-led government about resolving the conflict. Knew they were quite close and PM Ehud Olmert was a serious leader.

This is not the first time that some sort of behind the scenes peace deal fell apart for one reason or another. just yesterday I read of some deal with Syria to return the Golan but the Arab Spring hit. In the case of Abbas and Olmert it was the continual firing of rockets into Israel from Gaza that forced Cast Lead. Seems that uprisings on the Arab side of the equation put quick ends to peace talks. Who is to say they do not happen on purpose .....also from the arab side.

Why is it that only toward the end of their terms, are Israeli PMs able to achieve near deals with the Palestinians. In 2001, Barak was close to a deal which was rejected by Arafat. The election of Sharon solidified and froze the rejection for a decade. In a similar vein, the election of Netanyahu insured that a peace deal was not to be forthcoming in the near future. Now with elections to be held this spring, will we see a repeat of this pattern?

If you trust Abbas then you should trust Olmert. Apparently 2 months was not long enough for Abbas to accept a deal containing 100% of what he had been asking for.

The Turkish idea of a "deep state" hits so many nails at once.

to miss an opportunity

Abbas, you have passed your expire date.

Anyone who believes this, I know a good bridge I could sell you.

then there's always Barak...(tee hee) Oldemerde was the best PM Abbass ever had...Oldemerde gave him the keys to the store, always one way gestures too...cars, trucks. small arms, uniforms, food, tax money, ambulances, ammo, etc. I don't recall ANY gestures or concessions or any PAL offers given to Israel by Abbass, except one delegit demand or pre-condition after another. of course Abbass wants Oldmerde...the weakest link in the chain...

More ABBASS' self absorbed delusions and political spin for the elections? of course it's spin.