PRESIDENT Clinton and the new Israeli prime minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, left their joint press conference with their arms around each other but showing little agreement on key issues.
Mr Netanyahu, on his first visit to Washington since his election remained vague on his stance concerning the "land for peace" approach of his predecessor, Mr Shimon Peres, whose defeat caused dismay in the US administration.
The new Israeli leader also refused to give any firm commitments about the re-opening of the Israeli borders with Gaza and the West Bank or about a future meeting with the PLO leader Mr Yasser Arafat.
But the two leaders, who are of similar age, appeared to hit it off on a personal level despite forebodings that the White House's open backing for Mr Peres in the recent election would cause strains in the traditional US-Israeli relationship.
President Clinton promised to supply Israel with an advanced early warning system to protect Israeli cities against surprise attacks. He also expressed confidence that Mr Netanyahu was committed to the peace process pursued by his predecessor.
On the contentious question of the "land for peace" approach whereby Israeli settlers would gradually withdraw from the West Bank, Mr Netanyahu said bluntly that there were "different interpretations" of what this meant. He pointed out that under the Labour government there had been an increase of 50 per cent in the Jewish settler population due to "natural causes".
He refused to say whether there would be "additional" settlements under his government but hinted that any agreement with the Palestinian authorities on this would be dependent on a final political accord.
Pressed on whether Israeli troops would be withdrawn from Hebron as laid down in the peace agreements, Mr Netanyahu said this would depend on security considerations and whether the Palestinians met their commitments. He made it clear that there would be no Israeli concessions in any area of the peace process until he was satisfied that terrorism attacks had ended.
He conceded that the "suicide bombings" of several months ago had apparently ceased following a clamp-down by Mr Arafat. But he remained evasive on whether he would meet Mr Arafat in the near future. He said that regular contacts were being maintained with Mr Arafat at official level.
On Syria, Mr Netanyahu was also reluctant to enter any negotiations until there was an end to what he called terrorist attacks from Syrian-controlled territory in Lebanon through Hizbullah groups.
The Israeli prime minister held out the prospect of an easing of the closure of the borders between Israel and the West Bank and Gaza which he acknowledged was causing economic suffering to Palestinians. Again he linked any concession with counter-terrorism measures by the Palestinian authorities whom he accused of breaching the Oslo agreements by maintaining an office in East Jerusalem.
The feeling in Washington is that President Clinton has succeeded in establishing a working relationship with the new Israeli leader but that there will be little movement in the peace process until after the US election in November. Neither President Clinton nor his opponent, Mr Dole, will want to be seen to be leaning on Israel during the run-up to the election.