And even that might not ease checkpoint problems.
Israel has eased checkpoints this year — a real improvement in quality of life — but the system is intrinsically malignant.
In return, he promised the locals that troops in the area would ease border checkpoints, in effect granting the tribes licence to smuggle.
If Israel were to stop the settlements, ease the checkpoints, allow people in and out more freely, and negotiate more enthusiastically with Syria over the Golan Heights and with the Arab countries on the basis of the Saudi peace proposal, then peace might still elude the region.
Mr. Abbas's aides have made plain that they want more American pressure on Israel to make it easier to get in and out of Gaza and to ease roadblocks, checkpoints and the military grip in general in the West Bank.
They said Israel's defense minister, Shaul Mofaz, would consider easing some checkpoints and other restrictions on Palestinian travel through the West Bank.
Palestinian officials say he can do little to act against violence without tangible gains from Israel, like an easing of checkpoints.
He has yet to secure any significant concessions from Israel, like an easing of checkpoints, that some quartet diplomats believe would generate backing for his calls for an end to terrorism.
Earlier this summer, the country seemed to be moving toward a sense of normalcy, with an easing of checkpoints in the capital, new buses going into service and women returning to local cinemas.
Mr. Abbas has argued that he needs to extract concessions from Israel, like an easing of checkpoints that restrict or prevent Palestinian movement between cities, before he will be politically strong enough to confront Hamas, which opposes any negotiated agreement that does not erase the Jewish state.
