Netanyahu, Abbas: relations 'cordial'

That’s how Mitchell described the meeting between Netanyahu and Abbas in Washington. And he must be right.

Three cousins, the Russian tsar, the German kaiser, and the British king exchanged pleasant letters while their subjects slaughtered each other on WWI battlefields. Shabak maintained Arafat’s accounts in Israel during the Intifada. It should come as no surprise that Netanyahu enjoys talking to Abbas while Palestinian terrorists murder Jews.

The talks will come to nothing: Israel and the Arabs have undertaken to prepare a framework peace agreement within the next few months. This will prove to be impossible because Netanyahu cannot sell withdrawal from the Temple Mount and the dismantling of dozens of Jewish villages to Israelis, and Abbas cannot accept anything less, nor can he forfeit the right of return.