3 Interlocking Peace Negotiations Put Israel, Palestinians at Impasse

JERUSALEM -- The future of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is now bound up in three distinct sets of negotiations that are all interrelated, all vital for any hope of peace and all completely stuck.

The first, U.S.-backed talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority aimed at creating a Palestinian state, have been knocked off course by violence in Gaza City and mutual accusations of broken promises.

The second, negotiations mediated by Egypt between Israel and Hamas that are geared toward ending the Gaza attacks, began in earnest only this month but is already eliciting deep skepticism from both sides.

And the third, efforts to reconcile Hamas with the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, could jeopardize the other two if they succeed, although that appears unlikely.

"It's like a puzzle. Each track is affected by the other two," said Ali Jarbawi, a political science professor at the West Bank's Bir Zeit University. "Right now, none of the tracks are moving because each side thinks that if they move on one track, they'll lose on the others."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in the region Saturday to try to break some of the impasses, but policymakers from all three camps -- Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas -- are projecting gloom. They note that while a breakthrough is still possible, the situation on the ground does not favor reconciliation.

The stalled negotiations reflect the triangle of mistrust and animosity that prevails in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Israel views Hamas, the radical Islamist movement that controls Gaza, as a security threat. It accuses the Palestinian Authority, the moderate and secular group that holds sway in the West Bank, of not doing enough to rein in militants.

Both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority believe the four-decade-old Israeli occupation needs to end but disagree bitterly over how -- through violent revolt or internationally endorsed compromise.

The closest thing to progress in any of the talks came in the past week when representatives of Fatah and Hamas announced in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, that they had negotiated terms for holding more negotiations. The next day, however, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas disavowed the agreement, and his representative in Sanaa acknowledged that he had signed the deal by mistake.

The very fact that Abbas and his allies are considering a compromise with Hamas reflects their disenchantment with the offers they are getting from Israel, according to Menachem Klein, a political science professor at Israel's Bar-Ilan University.

"I don't see signs that Israel is ready to go beyond certain lines. I don't see the Palestinians being happy with what they're hearing from Israel. And I see the Americans saying it's not our business," said Klein, who during the Camp David negotiations in 2000 advised then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak. "So this brings them to talk with Hamas."

The latest round of discussions between Israel and the Palestinian Authority began with great fanfare in November at an international conference in Annapolis. So far, the talks have yielded no substantial progress.