Israelis, Palestinians ponder alternatives

Both sides say their first choice is still a full agreement, and the Obama administration is clinging to the hope that the peace talks will succeed.

But Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton acknowledged in a speech to Palestinian-Americans on Wednesday that it’s a struggle.

“I cannot stand here tonight and tell you there is some magic formula that I have discovered that will break through the current impasse,’’ she said.

Palestinians say the current situation cannot drag on indefinitely: They have a measure of self-rule in the main cities of the West Bank, but Israel controls the land in between and remains ultimately in charge, controlling the Palestinians through a complex permit system. The Gaza Strip, meanwhile, has essentially broken off — a statelet run by the Islamic militant group Hamas, which rejects the peace talks.

Palestinian officials said they don’t expect the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to take drastic action before the year set aside for negotiations is up in September 2011. Abbas, however, is starting to prepare for other options, and on Wednesday, more than a dozen senior Palestinian officials met for the first time — at the president’s request — to discuss ideas.

The main alternative, according to officials, is to seek UN Security Council recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, the territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

While such validation would not immediately change the situation on the ground, it could boost Palestinian leverage vis-à-vis Israel. International recognition of Palestine’s borders could also further isolate Israel and limit the Jewish state’s diplomatic and military options.

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said the Palestinians would first seek recognition from the United States.