"What Abbas has essentially done is bought some time to find a way out of this cul-de-sac in which everyone now is stuck... "

"Dennis Ross, ... will brief Jewish members of the Senate Wednesday morning.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) invited members of the informal Jewish caucus to attend the briefing, at the administration's request..... Ross was said by Washington Middle East hands to have been heavily involved in negotiations with the Israelis late last week to try to get some sort of deal to avert the freeze expiration.....

Some Middle East observers and diplomats have suggested the Arab League is likely to endorse Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas staying in the talks if some compromise can be found. "What [Abbas] has essentially done is bought some time to find a way out of this cul-de-sac in which everyone now is stuck," former deputy Quartet envoy Robert Danin said in a useful explainer interview with the Council on Foreign Relations. "If they can't find a way out of it, then the talks will likely collapse."