Crushing pressure

With their political survival under domestic threat and enjoying a relative security calm in the West Bank, neither Netanyahu nor Abbas were much keen on making the painful concessions necessary to reach a peace deal, Israeli analysts said, both leaders preferred the status quo while for Obama it was another thing.

"Obama believes that a peace agreement is a national American interest," wrote Barnea, "And when the U.S. President believes in that, the clients, Netanyahu and Abbas, have no choice but to show up. America is far from being what it used to be, but for Netanyahu, Mubarak, Abdullah and Abbas, she remains the only alternative."

Barnea noticed that Netanyahu and Abbas went to meet Obama at a time when the U.S. president's popularity at home was at an all- time low since he assumed office in 2008, but he suspected scoring points in the foreign policy arena could play an important part in Obama's success.

"No American president was ever rewarded at the ballot box for the efforts he invested in bringing peace to the Middle East," wrote Barnea, "Not Jimmy Carter, who brought about an Israeli- Egyptian peace agreement, and not Bill Clinton, who invested great efforts in mediating between Israel and Syria and the Palestinians. "

Despite their doubts and pessimistic forecasts, Israeli analysts also admitted that under pressure from Islamic fundamentalism Netanyahu and Abbas could look for more than just a photo opportunity on the White House lawn as they had joint interests to fight it.

Shared interests

Netanyahu's ministers, Barnea recently said, were divided into three groups in their approach to the peace process.

"One group believes that we are in the midst of a historic process. Islamic fundamentalism is on the rise. Israel, Arab regimes in the region and the PLO are facing a common enemy which threatens their very existence," wrote Barnea on Aug. 22.

"If Israel and the Palestinians do not reach a peace agreement, Fatah will disappear and the Palestinian people will be ruled instead by Hamas. This is why time is of the essence for both sides." he added.

While Netanyahu's own hard-liners at home, who argued against any concession in the coming direct talks, are planning their actions, Abbas' opposition, Hamas, have already shown their objection to the peace talks with a deadly drive-by shooting ambush near the West Bank city of Hebron Tuesday evening, which claimed the lives of four Israeli settlers, among them a pregnant woman.

Hamas on Wednesday claimed responsibility for the attack.

Amost Harel, a military correspondent for the daily Ha'aretz, told to Xinhua on Wednesday that the Hamas had succeeded in embarrassing Abbas by carrying out an operation while the Palestinian leader is meeting with Obama.

The organization also wanted to signal that it still exists and can carry out deadly operations in the West Bank, he said, adding that even though it was yet unclear if Netanyahu and Abbas would return from Washington with optimistic news for their people, but if the peace process could continue past Washington, the chances that extremists would continue to try and derail it were high.

Israeli President Shimon Peres, a known peace optimist, said recently that cynicism and doubters had always been around.

"It never hurts," he said, "to keep hoping and dreaming."