Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in Berlin today for a meeting of would-be Middle East peacemakers to discuss how to deal with Palestinian's new unity government. So far, the answer is that it's best to wait.
The so-called "quartet" — the U.S., Russia, the European Union and the United Nations — met for the second time this month.
The peace process has started up again, but it is in a familiar place: stuck in a holding pattern.
The last time this group of diplomats met, fighting was raging in the Gaza strip between Fatah, which backs moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abass, and Hamas, which the United States, the European Union and Israel have listed as a terrorist organization.
Now Gaza is calm, but the Mideast mediators were thrown a loop by the recent announcement that Fatah and Hamas will share power in a government that is yet to be formed.
However, the unity agreement does not force Hamas to recognize Israel, and it has been strongly criticized by the U.S. government.
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