For my story yesterday on the latest crisis in the talks, I spoke to Michael Oren, who until last September was the Israeli ambassador to Washington, and I asked him about why the issue of Palestinian recognition of Israel as a “Jewish state” has become so prominent in the talks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had always said that such recognition must be in a final deal, but he also said it was not a precondition to talks. Yet in recent weeks it seemed to have become a very present demand, although the sides had by no means arrived at a final deal.

Oren said that he had noticed a shift in Israel’s approach to the issue.

“It’s a departure from the policy that I represented,” he told me. “The policy I represented was that the ‘Jewish state’ issue would be at the conclusion of the process.”

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Ron Kampeas is JTA’s Washington bureau chief, responsible for coordinating coverage in the U.S. capital and analyzing political developments that affect the Jewish world. He comes to JTA from The Associated Press, where he worked for more than a decade in its bureaus in Jerusalem, New York, London and, most recently, Washington. He has reported from Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, Bosnia and West Africa. While living in Israel, he also worked for the Jerusalem Post and several Jewish organizations.