DISASTER BRINGS US TOGETHER. I'm at a press conference with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni and it's...strangely cordial. Livni starts out by endorsing a Palestinian state and saying it's in Israel's interests. Abbas makes, obviously, much the same claim. Indeed, there's quite a bit of comity here, as neither appears to view the other as their primary obstacle. Rather, that role is taken by Hamas, who the two are almost tripping over each other to denounce. Livni repeatedly implies that resolution can be found with Abbas, but not with Hamas. Abbas repeatedly denounces Hamas's seizure of Gaza. This is actually quite worrying. If the Palestinian Prime Minister loses legitimacy and makes his primary objective a triumph over Hamas and the Israelis begin making hyper-conciliatory noises with a leader they know can't deliver a settlement and refuse to speak to the other relevant party, that's a recipe for total gridlock. --Ezra Klein
