Public apathy may help Israeli-Palestinian peace
President Mahmoud Abbas' public concessions to Israel have not stirred grumblings on the Palestinian street, perhaps pointing to an opening to strike a deal.
Palestinian and Israeli negotiators might have stumbled across two powerful weapons that could help them convince their publics to support a compromise peace agreement — political exhaustion and apathy.
While the issues surrounding the peace talks, such as refugees and Jerusalem, are emotional triggers that easily move public opinion, the parties to the decades-old conflict appear to be slogging through a period of political fatigue. Hot button items that would usually bring crowds into the streets and force politicians to backtrack are not producing these effects.
