At the American Task Force on Palestine’s Sixth Annual Gala on Wednesday night, the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad did not mince his words.

“[The Palestinian Authority’s] relationship with the United States has been a bit strained,” he said. “Let me be frank with you: The conditions are not right for a meaningful resumption of [Middle East peace] talks.”

Apparently, in the PM’s opinion, more talks will create more defensiveness on both sides.

Fayyad called for greater “specificity” from the Israelis.

What the “Palestinians would consider a fair outcome … is not going to be a solution that does not include East Jerusalem as a portion of Palestine.”

Nonetheless, the Palestinian Authority remains committed to the peace negotiations, though perhaps without relying on negotiators, the Quartet on the Middle East.

“I don’t know how much longer this [Quartet] will go on,” Fayyad said. “[It’s] like trying to push an elephant through a needle.”

Finally, his rosy summation of the entire Israel/Palestine situation: While the situation is bad now, “it could be worse.”

Also spotted at the event: former GOP Sen. John Sununu (N.H.) and U.S. Middle East Peace Envoy David Hale.