It comes as no surprise that any early progress in the Mideast peace talks hinges on an old issue, Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

And it should also come as no surprise that people who have no real interest in peace between the Palestinians and Israel are eager to derail the talks that opened Tuesday in Egypt.

Last week, Hamas took credit for an attack that killed four Israeli civilians in a car, and this week Hamas resumed firing rockets into southern Israel from Gaza. Meanwhile, Danny Dayan, chairman of the Yesha Council, which represents groups of West Bank settlers, lobbed a verbal grenade at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Dayan said that if Netanyahu extends a moratorium on building settlement housing in the West Bank, it would lead to political instability within Israel that would bring the collapse of the present government.

… Time is of the essence. Demographics dictate that two independent states one for Palestinians, one for Israelis exist side-by-side.

The alternative, as the Palestinians population continues to grow in number while Israel’s Jewish population remains relatively stable, would be state in which the minority rules.

History has not been kind to such divided states.

The (Youngstown) Vindicator