Word: hardly
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...media outlets are for fresh information, the figures still reflect only 17% of the more than 27,000 polling sites nationwide. Moreover, they were drawn from less than half of the country's 34 provinces. As a result, even as some observers posit a Karzai victory, it's still hard to gauge where the candidates actually stand - and the extent of the impact of the Taliban's pre-election campaign of intimidation. (See pictures of election day in Afghanistan...
...Though Netanhyahu is under severe pressure from hard-right partners in his coalition government to concede nothing, his comments in London suggested he might nevertheless consider modifying his hostility to a building freeze. "We are making headway," Netanyahu said ahead of his meeting with Mitchell. "My government has taken steps in both words and deeds to move forward." Later that day, he left for Germany to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel on the last leg of his European jaunt. Though Merkel has always been careful to avoid pressuring Israel in public on the issue, German officials have said the Chancellor will...
...making significant concessions on West Bank construction, Netanyahu risks infuriating his hard-right coalition partners, who could bring the government down by quitting in protest. So he now seems to be shopping the idea of a compromise deal: a freeze on all new building but the right to see through construction that is already under way. In exchange, Israel may be extended various goodwill measures from Arab states, like reopening trade offices, initiating cultural exchanges and opening airspace to Israeli commercial planes, to further encourage movement toward renewed talks - and conditions for stable peace in the region...
...next month's United Nations General Assembly. That resumption of direct contacts would be a major boost for Obama's stated foreign policy priority of laying the foundation of lasting peace in the Middle East. And it would also reverse the dramatically deteriorating Israeli-Palestinian relations that helped lift hard-line, mutually hostile governments to power on both sides of the divide. (See pictures of heartbreak in the Middle East...
...Still, those small, careful steps may be too slow for a situation already favoring extremes. In a survey released on Wednesday by Israel's Maagar Mohot polling company, two-thirds of respondents said they share the hard-right's refusal of any freeze on West Bank settlement - even if Arab nations reward such a move. Meanwhile, the hardship and anger produced in Palestine - and in Gaza particularly - is so great that slow but sure peace progress may not be enough...