President Bush yesterday reiterated his message to the Israelis "to withdraw and withdraw now", in the words of his spokesman, Mr Ari Fleischer.
In the face of continuing defiance by the Israelis, however, there were reports, notably in the Boston Globe, that the message to the Israelis privately has been that they should ensure that withdrawal from Palestinian cities is well under way by the time the Secretary of State arrives in Jerusalem tomorrow.
Quoting an anonymous Defence Department official the paper claims the US government does not view Mr Sharon's continued military operations as defiance of the President. "Sharon knows how far he can go on this," the official is quoted as saying. "There might be a little more pressure on him publicly if he hasn't done something serious by Friday, but he has a window to get things done right now."
Mr Powell's itinerary, he said, was designed "to give Sharon some more time", a view that Mr Powell has repudiated to journalists in Agadir and Cairo. But in Israel others seem to have got the same message. "The signals the Israeli government got from the US government . . . were taken as an indication that Israel has until Friday to finish its operation," Dr Gerald Steinberg, director of the programme in conflict management at Tel Aviv's Bar Ilan University, told the Boston Globe.
Suspicions among Arab allies about how much the US is really distancing itself from the Israelis appear to be reflected in the clear message that Arab leaders are not prepared to see the Palestinian leader, Mr Yasser Arafat sidelined.
"There has been rising anger and frustration toward Israel," Jordan's King Abdullah II said on Monday, explaining why thousands have taken their protests to the streets in his country. "Unfortunately, also, the anger is being levelled at the United States," the king said.