ARAB SPRING SPRUNG

At the same time that the likes of the Melbourne Age bury their heads in the sand and remain in denial about the effects of the so-called Arab Spring on the Middle East, the Australian's Greg Sheridan in Territorial compromise loses ground in Arab Spring explains that the peace process remains diabolically perilous.

Ultimately, Israel won't make a peace deal unless it believes a Palestinian government can govern its territory effectively, provide law and order there and prevent attacks on Israel from Palestinian territory. That is inconceivable today and all the trends of the Arab Spring make it ever more unlikely.

That is not to say it is worthless to have a peace process. The two sides need to be talking. Not only that, I have become convinced it is vital for the Palestinians to have a political horizon, a political road, an acknowledgment that everyone accepts that they should have a state eventually.