Blair says conflict can be resolved

BRUSSELS, March 26 (UPI) -- Quartet Representative Tony Blair says the conflict between Israel and Palestine can be resolved, but a credibility gap must be overcome.

Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, addressed the European Parliament working group on the Middle East Tuesday. He said despite the recent escalation of violence between Israel and Palestine, resolution is possible but that the two sides must overcome a credibility gap, the European Parliament reported.

"It is possible to get this conflict resolved, but we are racing against time," Blair said in a statement.

Blair said both Israelis and Palestinians want a two-state solution, but there is a significant distance, a credibility gap, between what the two sides perceive as achievable. Blair says that the gap needs to be overcome to give both sides a chance to convince their constituencies of the necessity of a peace agreement.

Blair says passing the credibility threshold requires "significant confidence-building measures in the West Bank and an upgraded security environment in Gaza" to ease suffering in the region.