Where are we now?

Addressing the Muslim world from Cairo in June 2009, President Obama stated, that "The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements". "This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop." This firm declaration of intolerance for foul play resonated across the Middle East and, many believe, prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to announce his support for a "Demilitarised Palestinian State" for the first time. Despite this being a step in the right direction as he had previously refused to even consider negotiations with Hamas, the conditions under which such a state would be recognised were restrictive and controversial:

• Jerusalem should remain the capital of Israel
• Palestine would have no army
• Palestinians refugees would surrender in their fight for "right of return"
• Jewish settlements in the West Bank would be allowed "natural growth" until further negotiation on their status was complete

It is therefore, not surprising that these terms were rejected by Hamas and other Palestinians. Determined to take advantage of this however, the US administration encouraged talks and negotiated a 10 month construction freeze in the West Bank in the hope that it would encourage further progress. When it became apparent that this was not the case, direct negotiations were facilitated by Washington in 2010. By the time Palestine entered negotiations, the 10-month freeze on construction was coming to an end. The refusal of Israel to renew this, so-called gesture of "good-will", was resulted in the Palestinian leaders leaving negotiations (Israel later offered to renew the partial moratorium on settlement construction but only in return for Palestine's acknowledgement of Israel as the national home-land of the Jews).

At the 66th Session of the United nations, the PA led a diplomatic campaign to be recognised as the State of Palestine as defined by 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital as well as stating that Palestinians would not recognise the State of Israel. The request to become the 194th member state of the UN was submitted to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has not yet been voted on.