Everybody Wins at Mideast Talks

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RAMALLAH: TIMEs Lisa Beyer notes that whether or not Wednesdays talks between Yasser Arafat and Benjamin Netanyahu actually represent a fresh start in the peace process, there is great interest on all sides to make it appear that serious progress is being made.

The positive spin on the talks allows Dennis Ross to return home reporting that U.S. efforts have secured peace. It allows Netanyahu to show, in the wake of the recent botched assassination attempt on a Hamas leader, that not everything he does turns out to be a disaster. And it allows Arafat to head off the challenge of a buoyant Hamas by showing progress can be made in the peace process.

So while the atmosphere may still be poisoned by the last eight months of bloodletting and recrimination, expect to see Arafat and Netanyahu doing their best to appear to be jump-starting the peace process.