Will Mideast talks produce historic change? (News Feature)

By Marco Mierke and Sara Lemel Sep 3, 2010, 2:23 GMT

Washington/Tel Aviv - The first direct Middle East peace talks in nearly two years have been, for many, an absurd stage play.

For others, the talks Thursday in Washington were a historic event, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared the desire to lead their peoples to peace.

Are they really serious?

No matter how the negotiations turn out this time, there's no denying that the talks produced new fodder for the history books. Israelis and Palestinians sat across from each other in the gilded Benjamin Franklin Room at the US State Department, their table lit by elaborate glass chandeliers.

Netanyahu spoke of the deep bonds between their two peoples through the shared patriarch of Judaism and Islam, referring to 'our father,' Abraham.

'Together, we can lead our people to a historic future that can put an end to claims and to conflict,' Netanyahu said, addressing Abbas directly.

Abbas mentioned the rare coincidence of Islam's Ramadan observance and Judaism's Elul observance in the same month.

'Different faiths, different rituals, but a shared period of devotion ... a time when the people of two great religions remind the world of a truth that is both simple and profound, that each of us, all of us, in our hearts and in our lives, are capable of great and lasting change,' Abbas said.

Were they making history or just theatre?

Opinion was divided. Pessimism is rife after six decades of bloodshed and broken hearts, US President Barack Obama noted.

In Europe, the conservative Austrian newspaper, Die Presse, wrote that the 'actors' in Washington knew well that camels were more likely to fly across Antarctica than the two leaders were to agree on peace.

But even the pessimists have grown more careful, given unusually positive words from Netanyahu. In the US capital, the Israeli leader spoke several times of a 'historic compromise' and referred to Abbas as his 'partner for peace.'

Most people in the region long for an end to violence. But many wonder how serious Netanyahu and his promises are, and take his transformation from hawk to peacemaker with a grain of salt. The Israeli leader tried to deflect such doubt in July, telling a New York audience: 'I intend to confound the critics and the skeptics.'

Even an aide told the Times that Netanyahu was 'much more optimistic' than the aide himself: the prime minister 'has made an internal calculation that he is ready to make an agreement.'

Israeli political science professor Efraim Inbar said Thursday that he believes Netanyahu is 'serious.' After all, he's the first Israeli leader to push through a moratorium on Israeli building in Palestinian territory, Inbar noted.

'He gained recognition for that. And he's prepared to make large concessions - the question is, is that enough for the Palestinians?' Inbar said.

There is a growing conviction that Netanyahu really has no choice, with the US pressing so hard for peace. Iran is the region's growing threat - the wolf at the door - only to be tamed with the world's last remaining super power at Israel's side, The New York Times wrote.

Conventional wisdom in Israel suggests that if anyone can succeed with a peace agreement, it will be a right-wing premier like Netanyahu. He can count on not only his own supporters in the right wing, but also the automatic support of the left-wing and Arabic parties in the Knesset.

A left-wing leader giving up the same concessions to make a deal would face bitter resistance from the right-wing and settler-friendly parties.

There is, of course, the possibility that any concessions to the Palestinians could cost Netanyahu considerable support.

But people who believe Netanyahu's right-wing politics put him in a good position cite the fact that the most difficult peace agreement in the Middle East - the 1979 treaty between Israel and Egypt - was sealed by Israel's historic first right-wing government.

Israel's Haaretz newspaper columnist Aluf Benn believes that the 60-year-old leader wants to follow in the footsteps of Nobel Prize winner Mikhail Gorbachev, the ex-Soviet leader.

'Netanyahu is at the apex of his political power, in a way that no one else of his generation has achieved,' Benn wrote. 'He has no rivals. He can do what he wants.'