Why Abbas turned Biden down

When US Vice President Joe Biden, in the course of his meeting with the Palestinian president, proposed renewing negotiations with Israel on March 9, Mahmoud Abbas broke out in a wide smile. “He didn’t want to make Biden feel bad, so his smile didn’t turn into a big laugh,” a source close to the chairman’s office told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. 

Abbas, who was pushed to the corner three years ago and forced to hold negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the initiative of US Secretary of State John Kerry, now understands that his rival has no real intention to advance a diplomatic solution, now or ever, and also grasps his own political situation. To take dramatic diplomatic steps, a leader needs not only initiative, honesty and trust between the two sides, but also political strength at home.