With just four days left to the expiration of a freeze on Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank the future of the recent direct peace negotiations hangs in the balance. Fatah, one of the primary Palestinian groups, began a process of reengagement with Israel in early September after nearly two years. The recent talks have been touted by the US administration as a new beginning and hopes have been raised, again, of a possible break through on a future Palestinian state. Yet with a key issue, settlements, seemingly unresolved the talks seem set to fail. On the Israeli side the ruling coalition is split between those favouring a settlement freeze and those that are adamant that settlement construction is a right of the Jewish nation. Any agreement on halting settlement construction completely to meet the demands of the Palestinians will likely lead to a fall in the Israeli government. If the Palestinians agree to allow settlements to expand Fatah will lose all legitimacy and chaos will erupt across the West Bank. So what are the options available to the negotiators? A settlement freeze extension is currently the only viable option yet even this option simply delays the inevitable. The next few days and weeks will be very interesting indeed.
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