Goodwill measures

Publication of the details of Netanyahu's letter to Obama will come as a blow to the American leader and possible to the Israeli premier too, said David Ricci, a professor of politics and American studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

"President Obama probably doesn't want a lot of publicity about this during an election year, so they're trying to find some way of sweeping it under the rug momentarily," Ricci said on Thursday.

"The prime minister and his colleagues in the tradition of Israeli politics would very much like to find a formulation that everyone can interpret as a 'want'," he said.

Ricci thinks something will be done soon to ease the plight of the Palestinians in the West Bank. It will be something that will be very public.

The type of measure Ricci is speaking of could well be contained in Netanyahu's letter to Obama. The trouble is that any goodwill gestures will likely be overshadowed by the refusal to budge on Jerusalem.

That refusal is also troubling for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Shurab. Abbas needs room to maneuver if he is going to succeed in bringing the Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

The more Israel rejects American and Palestinian proposals, the more Palestinian hardliners will argue there is no point in talking with the Israelis. If that type of thinking sets in, the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement Hamas will gain more support and see itself as the pretender to the throne.

Abbas is also reportedly currently unwell, possibly with a heart condition -- that furthers the uncertainty in the Palestinian areas, despite the denials of ill health coming from Abbas' spokesmen.

Good news from unlikely source

As the parties seem to be clutching at straws, one piece of good news did emerge on Thursday for those who see advancing the peace process as the best way forwards. It is reported that the spiritual leader of one of the hawkish, religious parties in Netanyahu's coalition said he will not stand in the way of a policy change on Jerusalem if push came to shove.

Ovadia Yossef is the highly respected rabbi who guides Shas, which represents Jews of Middle-Eastern origin.

However, as with most other items of good news regarding the peace process, no sooner than it was made public, it was strongly denied by the political leader of Shas, Eli Yishai.

"Yishai is the one who has to seek re-election," said Ricci, pointing out that most Shas voters are further to the right than the party's leadership.

Shurab believes that the various elements of Netanyahu's government will not stay coalesced forever and he believes a general election is only "a matter of months."

Israeli analysts say that if Netanyahu is serious about peace, eventually he will have to part ways with Shas and a couple of other hawkish parties and introduce the dovish Kadima to his coalition line-up.

However, in order to truly satisfy Obama and the Palestinians, any coalition will have to cede parts of Jerusalem to the Palestinians. On the evidence made public today, it may be that, for Netanyahu, that would be just once concession too far.