Israeli and Palestinian negotiators took another stab Wednesday at settling a procedural dispute that threatens to trip up already unsteady Mideast peace talks.
They resumed their discussion in a State Department corridor while another Israeli delegation and a Syrian group held separate talks in a room on the sixth floor."We hope that we will make some progress, and we'll get to remove the various obstacles and maybe get into substance," said Yossi Ben-Aharon, the head of the Israeli delegation meeting the Syrians. "We talk about substance."
As the talks plod along, Utahns are divided on whether the talks will even move toward peace in the troubled Middle East, the latest Deseret News/KSL-TV poll shows.
Pollster Dan Jones & Associates asked in a recent survey if the peace process will move forward in the latest round of talks. Forty-eight percent are very or somewhat optimistic about the talks, while 47 percent are pessimistic. Six percent didn't know.
Considering the continued problems in the region - the wars and perennial hostilities - it's understandable that so many Utahns don't believe the latest talks will succeed.
The first day of talks Tuesday brought Israel and Syria, two of the region's most implacable enemies, to a State Department negotiating table for more than three hours. Each side accused the other afterward of intransigence, but both agreed to keep talking.
Israeli and Lebanese delegates held two negotiating sessions Tuesday and were to meet again Wednesday. Israel proposed that Lebanon sign a peace treaty; Lebanon asked that Israel pull its troops out of a buffer zone against terrorist infiltrations.
After meeting for more than five hours, the heads of the Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian delegations failed to break an impasse over a Palestinian demand to negotiate with Israel in a separate room from the Jordanians.
Israel insists on negotiating jointly with Palestinians and Jordanians, who form one delegation, although Israel is willing to break up the talks into subcommittees. The Palestinians say they are a people, not a subcommittee.
POLL
Utahns split on talks
Very optimistic about talks 7%
Somewhat optimistic 41%
Somewhat pessimistic 17%
Don't know 6%
607 Utahns polled between Dec. 3 and 5. Margin of error: plus or minus 4 percent.