on the ground has never been more complicated. you have a conservative prime minister who faces his own even more conservative settlers. you have the palestinians divided between hamas and fatah, the two rival parties controlling the west bank and gaza. you also have when you look at that stage and all five of them, one common enemy, one thing they all fear, the one party that's not there, and that's iran. it looms over the back. and they're all afraid that iran's meddling, whether it's with helping hamas, hezbollah in lebanon, that this will change dynamics on the ground. they often talk about peace talks being the last ditch effort, the last time you can do it. but we actually are getting there. the situation on the ground, the balance of power in the whole middle east, is beginning to change. >> robin makes an excellent point. david gergen, our senior analyst, is with us from boston. robin makes a good point. the big question is can these leadermake in on the map. to make a key point. mr. abbas is the palestinian