Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has told his political allies that he will not seek re-election in January. Israel's president and defense minister, along with the president of Egypt and the King of Jordan, have all called Abbas asking him to reconsider. Abbas is expected to give a speech later today, where he will express his frustration with the peace process.
Officials say Abbas told President Obama in October that he would not run for re-election unless Israel agreed to freeze the building of settlements in the West Bank, thereby allowing him to resume peace talks without losing all credibility. Aaron David Miller, public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., joins us with his thoughts on the move. Miller has served as an adviser on Middle East politics to both Republican and Democratic Secretaries of State.