Time to call off the Annapolis peace talks?

KEVIN FRAYER/AFP/Getty Images

If there’s one consensus ahead of the U.S.-sponsored Middle East peace talks in Annapolis, Maryland, it’s that their chances of failure are rapidly increasing. A number of reports this week have cited the repeated failures of Israel and Palestine to make any inroads, including the inability of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to come together on a joint statement on principles to guide the talks.

And it’s unlikely that any progress will be made before the talks, scheduled for late next month. Or is it early December? As of now, the two sides can’t agree on anything. For instance, Abbas said earlier this week he wants Lebanon and Syria to participate in the talks, although Olmert has ruled this out in an attempt to focus the talks on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

Internal divisions also hinder prospects for progress. Olmert lacks credibility among Israelis and therefore has scant support to make any real concessions. Abbas faces opposition from Hamas, who took the Gaza Strip earlier this year in what Abbas called an “illegitimate coup.” So even if Israeli and Palestinian negotiators can come to a consensus, it’s not likely they’ll be able to sell it to their respective streets.

This all raises the question: Is it time to call off the talks? Is no progress better than failed progress? This is a sentiment that is becoming increasingly popular in Palestine, as many believe failure would invite new violence.  According to one Palestinian official:

We can live without a conference but we can’t live with a conference that fails. It will be good not just for Hamas, but for al-Qaeda too.