With President Obama not willing to force the process foward, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas seems inclined to force a crisis. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat says Abbas intends not just not to run again but to resign his office and lead an exodus of senior PA officials that would likely lead to the collapse of the Palestinian authority.

Key passage from the Times ...

What a collapse of the Palestinian Authority would mean is far from clear. All legal definitions in Palestinian politics have grown fuzzy since the 2007 split between the West Bank, dominated by Fatah, and Gaza, run by Hamas. What is clear is that Mr. Abbas and those who work closely with him were shocked when the United States backpedaled on a demand that Israel freeze settlement building in the West Bank.

Mr. Netanyahu was due to meet President Obama in Washington on Monday night, and Mr. Abbas's threat to leave office was expected to be a part of their talks. When Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was in Jerusalem last week, she asked Mr. Netanyahu to include in negotiating guidelines specific references to the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders and in Jerusalem. He declined. President Obama took his time before granting the prime minister's request for a meeting.