Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Mideast and US leaders tried to sweep the issue under the rug. That may not work anymore

Editor's Note: A version of this story appears in CNN's Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, a three-times-a-week look inside the region's biggest stories. Sign up here. CNN — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted in August that the Palestinian issue had become a mere "check box" for Arab states that were looking to establish ties with the Jewish state, suggesting that it was a matter of lip service to an outdated cause. "You have to check it to say that you're doing it," he said. The Palestinian issue, he said, is brought up "a lot less than you think"…