Can we talk?

That’s what politicians, diplomats, and military leaders are asking in the late, grinding stages of the Iraq war and the aftermath of Israel’s war on Hizbullah.

Regarding Iraq, the Bush administration has made it a policy not to negotiate with either Iran or Syria on the future of the region, ignoring advice from some that both countries hold the key to controlling Iraq’s warring factions and to paving the way for a United States withdrawal. Those who resist talks say that dialogue only rewards recalcitrant regimes, legitimizing the extremists and undermining America’s credibility among its friends and enemies.

Israel, too, is resisting the “talking cure,” as it were, not only with Hamas, but with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority leader who is seen as the moderate alternative to Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert considers direct talks a reward for real progress on the ground, and feels Abbas is not doing all he can to assert control over Hamas. That’s why Olmert reportedly blew up when it was disclosed that Israel’s defense minister, Amir Peretz, spoke with Abbas by telephone this week about the escalating violence in the Gaza Strip. Whether Olmert was angry over the conversation or the disclosure wasn’t clear; either way, he was guarding the public principle of no progress, no talks.

And yet pressure is building on both Washington and Jerusalem to rethink this principle. Tony Blair and the Iraq Study Group headed by James Baker and Lee Hamilton are both proponents of direct negotiations regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and wider Mideast issues. White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten says the administration may be ready to explore direct talks with Iran and Syria if Baker-Hamilton recommend it.

So long as Hamas remains committed to Israel’s destruction, it is difficult to see what they could contribute to a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet Israel will be watching the Hamas-Fatah power struggle as well as the United States as it proceeds on Iran and Syria — perhaps remembering its own diplomatic history with Yasser Arafat and the PLO, when the unthinkable became the unremarkable. Don’t be surprised if sometime soon, Israel finds a way to talk once again with its enemies.