Israelis and Palestinians Agree to Talk

President Obama took a diplomatic gamble today by inviting the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to Washington next month to begin the first direct peace talks in almost two years. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the announcement. Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas will be joined by Egyptian President Mubarak, Jordan’s King Abdullah and Tony Blair, special representative of the US, the UN the EU and Russia, the so-called Middle East Quartet. Gideon Lichfield is deputy editor of the Economist Online and former Jerusalem correspondent for the magazine.