Negotiators must block out those uninterested in peace

It comes as no surprise that any early progress in the Mideast peace talks hinges on an old issue, Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

And it should also come as no surprise that people who have no real interest in peace between the Palestinians and Israel are eager to derail the talks that opened Tuesday in Egypt.

Last week, Hamas took credit for an attack that killed four Israeli civilians in a car, and this week Hamas resumed firing rockets into southern Israel from Gaza. Meanwhile, Danny Dayan, chairman of the Yesha Council, which represents groups of West Bank settlers, lobbed a verbal grenade at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Dayan said that if Netanyahu extends a moratorium on building settlement housing in the West Bank, it would lead to political instability within Israel that would bring the collapse of the present government.

It is the job of Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to rise above those on both sides who would perpetuate war between Palestinians and Israelis.

Focus on settlements

So far little is known to a certainty about what was discussed during the first meeting between Netanyahu, Abbas, U.S. peace envoy George Mitchell and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. But surely, the settlements that Israel has built over decades on land that was once defined as Palestinian territory is a topic.

Netanyahu, a hawk, instituted a moratorium on new construction in the territories last November but billed it as a temporary, one-time action.

In the meantime, construction has been completed on housing begun before the moratorium and more than 10,000 planned units are now in the pipeline.

If Netanyahu turns on the spigot, all hope for meaningful talks are flushed away. If he keeps the spigot closed, he alienates his constituency that believes in a greater Israel (and no Palestinian state).

Even by coming to the table, Abbas energizes Hamas, which believes in a Palestinian state in place of Israel.

Most want peace

But as is often the case, the extremists get the most attention while the majority watches anxiously. Most Israelis and most Palestinians would prefer peace to war, though the degree to which peace lovers hold the majority is subject to shift with events on either side.

Clinton told reporters on the flight to Egypt from Washington on Monday that “the time is ripe” for an agreement based on the notion of a sovereign Palestinian state and a secure Israel.

We would add that time is of the essence. Demographics dictate that two independent states — one for Palestinians, one for Israelis — exist side-by-side. The alternative, as the Palestinians population continues to grow in number while Israel’s Jewish population remains relatively stable, would be state in which the minority rules. History has not been kind to such divided states.