U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice returned to the Middle East on Saturday night in her latest effort to stimulate the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations track. She told reporters flying with her that the primary focus for the next three days was to improve the quality of life for Palestinians. Israel reads this as more pressure to remove checkpoints and roadblocks throughout post-1967 territories. In anticipation of Rice’s visit, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak made a number of new concessions to the Palestinians, including allowing the P.A. security forces to receive armored vehicles and night vision goggles, both of which are key elements in Israel‘s qualitative military edge. But Barak again drew the line at removing checkpoints and roadblocks for fear of infiltration by suicide bombers. Rice’s trip will include two three-way sessions that include both Israel and the Palestinians, and a trip to Amman to meet with Jordanian King Abdallah II.