However, there may be room for some optimism here as history has shown us that it has always been the most hard-line Israeli prime ministers who moved the peace process with the Arabs forward. Menachem Begin, considered one of the most conservative of Israel's prime ministers, signed the Camp David peace accords with Egypt and returned the Sinai Peninsula in exchange for recognition by Egypt and the establishment of diplomatic relations with Cairo.
And Ariel Sharon, the architect of the invasion of Lebanon in 1982, as prime minister withdrew from the Gaza Strip.
But there is another uncomfortable element:
the future of the peace talks are in jeopardy is because of the Arabs' inability to reach a consensus among themselves before coming to the negotiating table. Intra-Arab squabbling between Syria on the one hand, and Egypt and Saudi Arabia on the other, does little to help the overall Arab cause. Several high-ranking Arab diplomats in Washington told the Middle East Times that differences between various Arab countries remain the cause of great concern. Hamas, which has been at the forefront of the dispute with Israel in recent weeks, has been saying it might seek to form a new front independent of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
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