PALESTINIAN peace talks have been suspended for four weeks, about as long as they were on. The more protracted the impasse, the harder it will be for the parties to get back to the negotiating table. More delay only plays into the hands of extremists. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has refused President Obama's request to extend a moratorium on construction in the Jewish settlements for a modest 60 days. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has refused to negotiate until building in the settlements stops. We think the burden is on Netanyahu to get things moving again. The settlements are illegal under international law, and resuming the moratorium, which expired on Sept. 26, will in no way harm Israel's national interest. But Abbas also has to recognize that the issue has become a distraction from the main goal of a broader peace deal. The two leaders must not squander this chance. Back at the table, their first order of business can be setting the borders of the new Palestinian state. Land swaps were always going to be part of a peace deal, and there is little mystery about what the final map would look like. Once the borders are drawn, it will be clear which West Bank settlements would belong to Israel, and Israel can then resume building in those places. President Obama made a very generous – too generous, we believe – offer to Israel, to get Netanyahu to extend the moratorium. It included additional security guarantees and more fighter planes, missile defense, satellites. Netanyahu still refused, insisting that the hard-line members of his coalition would never go along. Many Israelis worry that he is putting too many obstacles in the way of a deal and raising unnecessary questions about Israel's already accepted identity. __
