The British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, declared himself "a true friend of Israel" yesterday as he called for an end to the "cycle of bloodshed" in the Middle East. And in Gaza, the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, hailed Mr Blair as "a close friend of the Palestinian people," and thanked him for his continuing effort to reactivate the Middle East peace process.
The only hope for peace in the Middle East lies in negotiation, Mr Blair said as he compared the bloodshed there to the Northern Ireland peace process.
Mr Blair painted a vivid picture of the horrors of the bombing of Britain from the 1970s and said in Gaza that it had taken 20 years to bring the opposing sides together for peace talks.
Mr Blair made the comparison when he was asked why he did not call for a coalition against the Israeli occupation, and how long it would take to achieve peace. "It will take as many years as (it takes) to get people round the table and talking through their differences, because violence won't solve it," he said.
After Wednesday's public dressing-down by President Assad of Syria over the allied bombing of Afghanistan, Downing Street had anticipated "another difficult day" of Middle East diplomacy as Mr Blair battled the barriers of hatred there while seeking to bolster Arab support for the international coalition.
However, the public "atmospherics" in Jerusalem and Gaza at least seemed somewhat warmer than in Damascus, even if the latest leg of Mr Blair's diplomatic mission appeared to leave both sides in the putative peace process still awaiting signs of a significant new initiative led by the US.
Mr Arafat said he and Mr Blair had discussed possible next steps in the process. However, while the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, declared equally for peace, he again insisted he would not compromise Israel's security or that of its people. "When it comes to the lives of Israeli citizens and the very existence of the State of Israel, here there will be no compromise," said Mr Sharon at his joint press conference with Mr Blair.
And while Mr Blair would later urge both sides to reach across "a chasm of understanding", the depth of conflicting perceptions was starkly underlined when Mr Sharon was asked to explain the distinction between "targeted killings" and "assassinations" and strongly asserted Israel's right to self-defence.
The Prime Minister struck an upbeat note throughout the day, insisting it was better to "get your hands dirty" than allow extremists to drive events. Time and again he hammered home his unwavering message that "talk" was the only way to peace.
Speaking after meeting with the PLO leader, Mr Blair said: "There is a gulf of misunderstanding between the Arab and Muslim world and the Western world. What we have got to do, both of us, is reach across that gulf of misunderstanding. What the bin Ladens of this world want to do is widen that gulf. They want to put the Muslim world against the Western world - I tell you, that way lies disaster. We have got to be the ones that take charge of this political situation and drive the extremists out of the equation."
As a number of Labour MPs voted against the war in a technical division in the House of Commons, Mr Blair's diplomacy won warm endorsement from the Foreign Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, who said it was both brave and necessary.
Mr Straw said Mr Blair had known he would face "a rough ride" but insisted he was the world leader best qualified to get the Middle East peace process back on track.