Abbas: I'll quit if peace deal not set in 6 months

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned Sunday that he would resign from his position if a peace settlement is not reached with Israel within six months.

During talks with former Meretz chairman MK Yossi Beilin, as part of the economic forum in Sharm el-Sheikh, Abbas defined the next six months as critical for the peace process and added that there would be no point for him to proceed in his post if a settlement was not reached.

Abbas also said that regional extremists were coming out victorious under the current situation in which both the Israelis and the Palestinians are reluctant to make a deal.

Earlier Sunday, Abbas said that the address given by U.S. President George Bush to the Knesset last week had angered the Palestinians.

In that speech, Bush showered Israel with praise, strongly reiterated its right to defend itself and only gently urged leaders to make the hard choices necessary, without mention of concrete steps. He did not mention the Palestinians' plight; he spoke of them only in one sentence saying that Israel's 120th anniversary - in 2068 - would see it neighboring an independent Palestinian state."

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[oberliner]

1. What is coming next?

It certainly seems likely that neither Olmert nor Abbas will be in power a year from now.

It also appears that the potential successors in both cases will be to the right of each of those individuals.

Where, then, does this leave things?

[Scurrilous]

2. Well...

...Bush will be gone in a year also. Chances for peace can only improve in his absence.

[notfullofit]

3. Not if

the Israelis elect Netanyahu.