Activity Picks Up for Mideast Talks

U.s. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives at Downing Street , London for a meeting with Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, Thursday Jan. 18, 2007. Rice is in Europe to bring German and British leaders up to date on Middle East peacemaking efforts. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) (Kirsty Wigglesworth - AP)

The failure to reach agreement at the Abbas-Mashaal meeting bodes poorly for a resolution that could end months of Palestinian infighting. With Hamas holding so much power, Abbas' room for maneuvering in negotiations with Israel could be severely limited.

If the international community wants to move ahead in a meaningful peace process, "we have to get our act together internally," said Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator.

Israel and the U.S. insist they are not abandoning the road map, but rather attempting to find creative ways to revive it.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz have each offered peace plans based on the road map. Livni asked to strengthen Palestinian moderates by painting a clear picture of what a provisional Palestinian state would look like, and Peretz said a final peace deal could be reached within two years.

"Time is running out and we must use it to strengthen the moderates," Peretz said in a speech Monday at a security conference.

Speaking later at the same conference, Livni insisted the international community keep up pressure on Hamas beyond statements of principles.

"Now we are demanding that they enforce their values ... as a way of strengthening the moderates and weakening the extremists," she said.

Egypt has questioned the road map's viability, however, calling for a final deal that would bypass the plan's initial stages.

Another obstacle to getting peace talks moving again is the weakness of the leading players.

A combination of corruption allegations and Israel's summer war with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon have widely discredited Olmert in the eyes of the Israeli public.

Although his international standing is strong, Abbas has not prevailed over Hamas. And President Bush has his hands full with Iraq and a dismal approval rating at home, though achievements on the Israeli-Palestinian front could help burnish the U.S. image in the region.

Skeptics do not see real momentum building.

"No one treats the road map seriously any more," said Yossi Beilin, a dovish Israeli lawmaker who was involved in several rounds of negotiations with the Palestinians.

The re-energized U.S. involvement is intended "to create the impression that the Middle East is on their agenda," Beilin said. "They want to guarantee a pragmatic Arab coalition, and they know the stumbling block is the Arab-Israeli conflict," he said. "And since they can't solve it, they make do with talking about it."