News analysis by Said Ghazali PNA officials are describing the talks with Israel as going through a new crisis, part of a vicious circle that seems determined spin endlessly. It is true.
Most Palestinian officials have no clear-cut answers.
They are in a quandary whether to freeze the talks or not and are weighing all the possibilities. Members of the High Negotiation Committee who held their assessment meeting with President Yasser Arafat on February 7 say that the United States bears the responsibility of correcting the path of the negotiations. Sources say that U.S. envoy Dennis Ross, who has attempted to save the talks from collapse many times in the past, is expected to arrive in a fresh attempt to convince the two sides to resume negotiations. Some Palestinians are advising him to boycott the talks. Others are whispering in his ear that he should give in and compromise.