• How significant is Thursday’s attack?

The attack last week, when a Palestinian gunman shot dead eight people at the Mercaz Harav seminary before killing himself, was the deadliest in Jerusalem since April 2006. It could affect the peace process that the US—with the backing of Israel, Britain and the international community—launched last November in Annapolis.

• Has the peace process stalled?

Palestinian President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas has, for the moment, suspended communications with Israel although the Israeli government insists that it will persist with the peace talks despite Thursday’s attack in Jerusalem. However, the talks cannot succeed without getting the Hamas on board and the group is determined to see the talks fail. Although the Israeli government initially said that talks would not be derailed, the mood in Israel could change fast. Now it will be almost impossible for the Israeli leadership to sit down with any Palestinian leader, no matter how moderate. Though Abbas condemned the attack, the Hamas in Gaza celebrated the incident as a “natural reaction” to Israel’s military offensive in Gaza that began on March 1.

• What was the objective of the Annapolis meet on November 27, 2007?

To implement the two-state solution and create a Palestinian state next to Israel. The aim was to reach an agreement before the expiry of George W. Bush’s term in late 2008. The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had been meeting since June 2007 to prepare the groundwork for Annnapolis.

... contd.