From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Is Annapolis the beginning of the beginning?

Hello again, I'm Warren Olney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International,

a daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

The Palestinians and the Israelis agreed today that all the core issues will be on the table as direct negotiations resume after a lapse of seven years. They set the end of next year as the deadline for a two-state solution and established a process for achieving that goal.

On to the point, do weak leaders reflect what's really happening on the ground?

What about Hamas, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Iran?

Can the U.S. play a decisive role, presuming it wants to?

On reporter's notebook later on, Medicare and the high cost of hospice,

when patients live longer than expected.

First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica

and from the Public Radio International Program Fund,

whose contributors include the Ford Foundation and the John D.

and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Hello again, Warren

Alney, back with To the Point. For the first time since the Clinton administration, Israelis and

Palestinians have agreed to resume direct negotiations. On To the Point, we'll hear about a

framework for peace and the prospects for success or failure. On reporter's notebook,

hospice patients are living longer than they were supposed to.

Now, the government wants its money back. First, this news update. There has been growing

skepticism that Israel and the Palestinians could even agree on a framework for resuming

...