The chances of an early July Middle East peace summit in the United States faded yesterday as the US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, on a lightning trip to the region, failed to win Palestinian support for such a make-or-break meeting between Israel's increasingly embattled Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, and the Palestinian leader, Mr Yasser Arafat.
After meeting both leaders, Ms Albright refused to say whether a summit would be held. All she would say was that she would report to President Bill Clinton, and that he was the one "who will decide when it is appropriate to hold a summit". Sources in Mr Barak's office suggested yesterday that late July was now a more likely date for a summit.
While Mr Barak has been pushing hard for a US-based meeting with Mr Arafat to discuss a framework deal for a final peace treaty between the two peoples, Palestinian sources insisted yesterday that the gaps between the two sides on substantive issues were still too great and that there would be a further two to three weeks of talks in Washington, after Independence Day on July 4th, before a decision would be taken on whether the two leaders would meet. "You really can't bridge oceans," said Palestinian negotiator Mr Nabil Shaath after Ms Albright's meeting with Mr Arafat in the West Bank town of Ramallah. "It's much easier to bridge rivers."
Mr Barak wants a summit before September 13th - the date by which a final agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis is supposed to be sealed. The two leaders, however, seemed far apart yesterday on some of the most cardinal issues, like the future borders of a Palestinian state and the fate of Jerusalem.
Mr Arafat has said that if an agreement is not reached by September, he will unilaterally declare independence. Asked how Israel would respond to such a move, Mr Danny Yatom, a senior aide to Mr Barak, said yesterday the consequences would be "harsh" and the government "would have to react: it would mean new rules of the game". But he believed Mr Arafat understood this and "he will make every effort to ensure that there is no major deterioration".
Mr Arafat reiterated yesterday that he would settle for nothing less than 100 per cent of the West Bank and Gaza Strip - territory conquered by Israel during the 1967 war - and that East Jerusalem should be the capital of a Palestinian state. Mr Barak, who yesterday dismissed reports that he had already agreed to cede 92 per cent of the West Bank to the Palestinians, added that he had "very clear red lines" and that he had no intention of returning to the 1967 borders, or of relinquishing East Jerusalem.
Mr Barak was not only trying to allay fears among Israeli rightwingers opposed to a land-for-peace deal, but he was also battling growing opposition within his already fractious ruling coalition.