Israel and Palestine

The clock struck midnight last night without any sign that Israel would, or could, continue the moratorium on West Bank construction. The settlers cheered, sent up blue and white balloons and poured a load of ceremonial cement into a hole meant to symbolize the start of a new building in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, Mr. Abbas was consulting with his Arab brothers to try to decide what course of action Palestine should take. And Mr. Netanyahu was asking Mr. Abbas to be patient and not quit the peace process even before it really got started. And Hamas was telling a TV camera why Israel and the United States had never been serious about giving Palestine a real homeland.
As all that was going on, a few shells were lobbed into Israel.
It all was so familiar, and sad.
What seemed to me different this time was that, while we expect Mr. Abbas to have trouble controlling his constituency, this time it seems apparent that it's Mr. Netanyahu who is in difficulty with his. The Israeli political party he represents wasn't very helpful in calming the waters in the West Bank settlements. Some even called for a rapid restart to the building. The West Bank settlers would not listen to his pleas to stay calm and not provoke the Arab side. They responded with an all-day and all-night party to celebrate the lifting of the sanctions.
And this morning on the French news, President Sarkozy said that Europe would do all it can to find a way to a lasting peace in the Middle East but that without a solid, muscular American determination to control Israel, nothing can be achieved.
There we have it. The hopes for peace dashed once again and the world ever nearer to an outright Middle East conflict.
Whose fault is it? Can anyone say. Surely, President Obama, Secretary Clinton and Senator Mitchell were trying hard to keep the Israeli governing party in line. Surely, Europe was talking to the Arab side quietly and fervently. Surely, Mr. Abbas wants peace so he can at last have a real state named Palestine. Surely, Israel wants a peace that it can rely on.  Even Syria seems committed to some sort of compromise.
But, who will bring Hamas and the Israeli West Bank settlers to the table? I don't think we have a clue.