Israeli and Palestinian representatives are scheduled to meet in the Jordanian capital of Amman on Tuesday in an attempt to revive direct peace negotiations.

The meeting came after efforts by Jordan's King Abdullah II and the Middle East Quartet - the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia - who are eager to get both sides back to talks.

However, the chances of success look slim as both sides appear unwilling to let go of preconditions and demands, which have held back the resumption of negotiations since September 2009.

"It's only natural that the Jordanians are looking around, seeing how the situation has developed, and are fearful that a breakdown of the peace process may have detrimental on the stability of Jordan, and therefore they are getting into the picture," Dr. Shmuel Bar, of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, told Xinhua on Monday.

HONEST BROKER

Over the years, a number of the region's powers have tried to mediate between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) . However, due to the change of leadership in Egypt and the deteriorating ties between Israel and Turkey, Bar said that " Jordan is probably, as far as Israel and the Palestinians are concerned, the "last man standing."

However, he added that "the Jordanians also have a vested interest in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians because of their large Palestinian population."

But despite the gesture by the Hashemite kingdom, Dr. Assaf David of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, cautioned that "the Jordanians are very afraid that the Israelis will draw them into the equation, maybe the Palestinians too, in terms of if there is a failure it's going to get pinned on Jordan."

After the last round of direct negotiation came to an end in September 2010, there have been several attempts by members of the Quartet, both as a group and as individual actors, to get the parties to resume talks.

During this period, King Abdullah II has been very vocal in warning about the risks of a total failure of the peace process, and Tuesday's meeting is a result of intense diplomatic effort on his behalf.

PRECONDITIONS AND DEMANDS

Nevertheless, the underlying reasons for the previous failures to restart negotiations still remain, and in some aspects the gap between the two sides have widened.

September 2010 marked the end of a ten-month Israeli freeze on West Bank settlement construction, a step offered as a confidence- building measure after an American request.

The idea was that the ten-month period would be used to restart the negotiations. However, due to disagreement over the terms of the moratorium, only a few meeting were held during the last month.

Once it ended, PNA President Mahmoud Abbas refused to resume talks before another freeze was imposed. Israel, however, has refused to implement the measure, calling it a one-time offer, and charging that the Palestinian demands were excessive.

Abbas has also asked that Israel agree to a number of other demands before the negotiations can be resumed, including setting borders of a future independent Palestinians state, and the "right of return" for all the Palestinians who fled or left when Israel was established.

Israel considers the Palestinian's "right of return" demand as a non-starter, contending that it would end Israel's identity as a Jewish state. As well, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on Abbas to recognize Israel as Jewish homeland. In any case, Israeli officials say they want these issued to be solved through negotiations.

HAMAS FACTOR

Echoing Israel's stance, Bar said that the PNA "is in a process of reconciliation with Hamas, and (the PNA) know that you can't have peace with Israel and peace with Hamas, you have to decide."

Even since Hamas' violent take-over of Gaza in 2007, there have been two de-facto governments: one under Abbas and his Fatah party in the West Bank, and one in Gaza under Hamas.

Efforts to re-consolidate the two sides have been going on since then. In May 2011, the factions struck a deal to establish a unity government and to hold parliamentary election in May 2012. However, no government has been formed as yet, and no exact date has been set for the elections.

Israel has repeatedly stated that it won't negotiate with a Palestinian government including Hamas, since the group doesn't recognize Israel's right to exist.

This double negation has lead to two different questions, according to David: Is the PNA really capable of deciding on such "very thorny" issues without any backing from Hamas, and if Israel 's current right-wing government which supports continued settlement construction is capable of moving forward towards a two- state solution.