Mideast baby steps
Half full, or half empty? Yes, Benjamin Netanyahu uttered the words "Palestinian state". But no, he didn't say anything about meeting the US demand to halt the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
The best way to understand the speech made by the Israeli prime minister last night is to read the full text. (You'll find it .)
But if you don't have the time (or, perhaps, the inclination), here are what I regard as the two essential points:
First, the context: Netanyahu made clear at the outset that he regards dealing with the Palestinian issue as only the third most important challenge he faces. Top of the list comes Iran, and second comes the financial crisis.
Second, look at the exact words he used: "In my vision of peace, there are two free peoples living side by side in this small land, with good neighbourly relations and mutual respect, each with its flag, anthem and government, with neither one threatening its neighbour's security and existence ...
"Any area in Palestinian hands has to be demilitarised, with solid security measures. Without this condition, there is a real fear that there will be an armed Palestinian state which will become a terrorist base against Israel, as happened in Gaza ... We cannot be expected to agree to a Palestinian state without ensuring that it is demilitarised. This is crucial to the existence of Israel -- we must provide for our security needs."
One commentator in the left-of-centre newspaper described this passage as "like a rotten tooth pulled from its socket without anaesthesia".
President Shimon Peres, who won a Nobel Peace prize with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat for his role in negotating the Oslo peace accords in 1993, called the speech "brave and real".
The veteran Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said: "The peace process has been moving at the speed of a tortoise. Tonight, Netanyahu has flipped it over on its back."
In Washington, the White House repeated that President Obama believes that a two-state solution "can and must ensure both Israel's security and the fulfilment of the Palestinians' legitimate aspirations for a viable state, and he welcomes Prime Minister Netanyahu's endorsement of that goal."
Diplomacy rarely moves in great leaps. As we saw in northern Ireland, progress is usually made in a series of small, carefully calibrated steps. There can be long pauses, and steps backwards, but sometimes, over a period of years, a dispute can be ended.
Was Mr Netanyahu's speech one of those small steps that can lead to something much bigger? In Washington, I suspect they'll be pleased to see that pressure from the White House can have an effect. Until now, the Israeli prime minister has refused to accept the notion of a Palestinian state, even a demilitarised one.
As for the next step: well, you probably didn't notice, but yesterday, a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed on the beach near the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. No one was hurt, but it was a reminder that both Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza still feel themselves to be under attack.
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