Sar Shalom
I would like to formalize a principle that we should ask those covering the Middle East to use. Simply, if someone's interests are served by your believing X, whatever X is, then do not consider that person's saying X to be proof that X is true. This does not mean X should be dismissed, only that X should not be considered established without corroborating evidence.
Instead, what we have from the Very Serious media types is that any statement made that fits their pre-existing narrative is taken to be proof-positive that the content of the talk is accurate and any statement contradicting their pre-existing narrative, no matter how much corroboration is available, is to be dismissed. For instance, when Mahmoud Abbas declares that he is committed to two-states if only Netanyahu would yield what is his due or when Netanyahu says during a hotly contested campaign that there will be no Palestinian state during his term, those statements are proof that Abbas is committed to two states and Netanyahu is not, no further information needs to be checked. Similarly, when Netanyahu declares that his determination to stop a Palestinian state is conditional and he only questions the likelihood that the conditions for lifting his opposition would be met, or when Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif declares that eliminating Israel is non-negotiable, both statements are taken for bluster meant to distract from Netanyahu's true aims of dominating the Levant and of Iran's true reasonability.
The most recent manifestation of this phenomenon is Carter's declaring that Mashaal is interested in peace while Netanyahu is not. Carter reached this conclusion when Mashaal told him that he would be interested in Saudi Arabia's peace proposal (h/t EoZ). Did Carter look at any action of Hamas to reach that conclusion? Of course not! He simply started from the premise that all the Palestinians' demands are reasonable and as soon as he heard a statement fitting that premise, he considered his premise proven. The one question to ask Carter about his reasoning process is, "Did Mashaal tell you anything other than what serves his interests for you to believe it?"
