The moment to move

BRUSSELS - With Greece in turmoil, the Spanish economy collapsing and the French political system in a state of upheaval, the leaders of the European Union are nonetheless putting time and energy into getting the ball rolling again on the Israeli-Palestinian front. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, followed by European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek, last week visited the offices of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Both returned to Brussels as confused as ever.

What does Netanyahu mean when he hints that he would be interested in hearing new ideas? And how are we to interpret all the talk about Abbas looking for a way out of the latest corner he's backed himself into - in this case the UN vote on recognizing an independent Palestine in September? And is there any truth to the messages making their way here from Washington to the effect that President Barack Obama is tired of serving as Netanyahu's life preserver and that the biggest superpower in the world really does not feel like joining Micronesia and the Marshall Islands in voting against recognition of Palestine?

Upon her return from the Middle East, Ashton found a newspaper clip on her desk from The Telegraph of Britain, which cited a classified diplomatic document, which was released under freedom of information request, that described how unsuitable she was for her current position. Her critics maintain that Ashton's shortcomings - meager diplomatic experience and excessive caution - were the reason she was chosen for the job. Ashton's fans say that precisely because of these traits, she does a wonderful job of maneuvering herself among the 27 European raindrops.

On the eve of her trip to the Middle East, Ashton sent a letter to the members of the Quartet - the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations - urging them to adopt Obama's blueprint for a solution based on the June 4, 1967, lines, with territorial swaps, as a starting point for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. She wrote that if the conflict is to be resolved, swift progress is required. Since then, she has been on their case constantly.

"My letter was a manifestation of an awful lot of work to try and get the Quartet principles together, in order that we can and try and put that work that's been going on to good effect, with something from the Quartet that might be able to persuade the parties that there is enough support to get back into negotiations," Ashton told me on Tuesday, in an interview held in her office at EU headquarters in Brussels. She said that the EU has invested considerable efforts in trying to get negotiations restarted before the anticipated UN vote in September. "I believe the Quartet is key, because potentially it can bring comfort to both parties," she said. "It always seems to me that one of the most critical parts is not only understanding why the key issues matter so much to each [side], but their feeling that if they take the risk of being in negotiations that the international community will stand with them both and see that through.

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