My Lords, the domestic political Crisis in Israel, against the background of an escalating second intifada, might prove a complicating factor, but it might also reopen a narrow window of opportunity for a resumption of peace talks.

It has come to be accepted that the cause of the current Crisis in Israel was the visit by Ariel Sharon to the Temple Mount in September 2000.

At a recent emergency meeting, IWC members requested the Quartet to intervene to stop fighting and expressed their deep concern at the current Crisis in Israel, Palestine and Lebanon, which they see as threatening the region as a whole.