European Union (EU), United Nations (UN), Russia and United States (US) will meet in Washington today to talk about Israel and Palestine. The four powers together are called “The Quartet.” The leader of the meeting will be Hillary Clinton from the US.

The EU Foreign Policy President Catherine Ashton said that the Palestinians and Israelis are not negotiating and she wants to change that. If she can get Palestinians and Israelis closer to negotiations, she will be happy.

Earlier in year, President Obama said that Palestine has to have country borders from 1967. Super-conservative President of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu said that Obama's idea is not possible and will never happen.

Right now, Palestine is separated into West Bank and Gaza. In the West Bank Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas controls the land where Palestinians live and has police. Israelis live in the middle of West bank. Israel controls that land. Most people think this is illegal.

The other part, Gaza, is controlled by Hamas. Most world powers think Hamas is a terrorist organization. Nobody can go in or out of Gaza because Israel closed everything. 80% of people have no jobs. They cannot buy from or sell to the outside world. University students cannot go to other countries to study.

The result of the Quartet meetings are not very good. There are usually lots of promises. Gisha – an organization that supports Palestinian rights – says that Israel never does what it promises. For example, they promised to allow more people from Gaza to work in the West Bank, but that has not happened. Also, Tony Blair – the leader of the Quartet – said he wants to increase economic growth in Palestine. That has also not happened and the International Labor Organization said that a better economy is impossible because Israel doesn't let anyone go in or out.

Results from today's Quartet meeting will probably be the same – lots of promises and very little change.