Israel insists that any serious progress will happen only if both sides can sit at the negotiating table face to face. According to this view, Netanyahu's right-wing coalition might be persuaded to accept the continuation of the partial settlement freeze, but only if the Israeli public sees President Mahmoud Abbas and Netanyahu publicly engaged in negotiations.
以色列方面坚持认为除非双方面对面谈判，否则就无法达成任何实质性成果。依照这个观点，只有让人们亲眼看到巴勒斯坦民族权力机构主席阿巴斯以及以色列总理内塔尼亚胡一起坐在了谈判桌前，后者所领导的右翼联合政府才有理由去部分冻结定居点建设。但过去这类公开谈判的经验告诉我们：故事有着另外一个截然不同的版本。