Dancing On A Three-Legged Stool

Robert Malley, a Middle East watcher, gives three reasons for optimism as new talks get underway -- and they all have to do with the temperaments and political positioning of the key leaders:

[A] Palestinian leader who needs an achievement; a U.S. president who appears deeply invested, and a hard-line Israeli prime minister who, if he were to sign an agreement, would be better placed than most to sell it.