The Associated Press thinks so:

During the election campaign, Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed peace talks with the Palestinians, supported expanding West Bank settlements and warned that concessions only embolden Israel’s enemies.

But preparing to become Israel’s prime minister Tuesday, Netanyahu adopted a more conciliatory tone, reflecting the same pragmatic streak that in the past allowed him to navigate complex domestic and global politics.

He has embraced peace negotiations since being tapped as the country’s leader after the Feb. 10 elections. He also says Israel should not rule Palestinians, although he has remained vague on the details and never said the words “Palestinian state.”

“The government I am about to form will do all it can to achieve a just, long-lasting peace with our neighbors and the entire Arab world,” he said Monday. “Each of our neighbors truly willing to move toward peace will find an outstretched hand.”

As I opined after the election, Netanyahu’s center-right government could very well be the only one able to convince Israelis to agree to some kind of peace agreement that would grant Palestinians more rights and perhaps even independence than they’ve had thus far.

Still, Palestinians will logically not accept more settlements. Netanyahu will have to put a limit to Israeli ‘colonies’ in official Palestinian territories if he truly wants to bring both sides together.

Israel and Palestinians are locked in a tremendously difficult situation. One would assume that more freedom for Palestinians would lead to better relations, which is indeed what many leftists have argued in recent years. But this hasn’t proved true. Not necessarily, at least. Israel withdraw from Gaza only to see Hamas take over and launch rocket after rocket at Israeli towns. If Israel would withdraw completely from the West Bank, Palestinians could be happy and demand concessions from their own leaders, but they could also radicalize, believing that terrorism pays. At the same time it is crystal clear that Israel’s tougher stance towards Gaza and the West Bank after the second intifada has turned the Palestinian territories into breeding places for terrorism, more so than they already were. In other words, the hardliners haven’t reduced the tensions either.

As said, a complex situation, in which easy answers are not available.