Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and the Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat were last night holding their first face-to-face meeting since the Camp David peace summit broke down two months ago.
And although both sides made clear that they expected nothing concrete to emerge from the session - which was convened largely because of US pressure, and for which no agenda was drawn up - it is clear that Israel, at least, is slowly moving away from positions previously presented as "red lines".
Until relatively recently, for instance, Mr Barak was adamant that Israel had to maintain full sovereignty over the Temple Mount - the site of the two Biblical Jewish temples.
Now, though, Israel is actively pushing a compromise proposal under which the mount - revered by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, site of the Prophet Mohammed's ascent to heaven - would come under the sovereignty of the United Nations Security Council.
Mr Shlomo Ben-Ami, the Israeli Foreign Minister, advanced this proposal in the course of quick visits yesterday to Egypt, for talks with President Hosni Mubarak, and Jordan, for a session with King Abdullah.
Echoing Mr Barak, Mr BenAmi told reporters during the day: "All wheels have been invented. We now need to take the tough decisions."
But at the same time, Mr BenAmi presented another new shift in the Israeli position: the readiness to sign a peace treaty that does not fully resolve all the issues of dispute with the Palestinians.
Israel, he indicated, would not sign another interim deal, but might accept a permanent deal under which the most complex issues - including the status of Jerusalem, and the fate of Palestinian refugees - were not finalised, provided that timetables and mechanisms for a postponed solution were agreed.
Significant or not, these subtle Israeli shifts of position will be rendered irrelevant if Mr Arafat remains adamant that full sovereignty throughout East Jerusalem and the Old City, including Temple Mount, must pass to Palestinian or other Islamic hands. Going into last night's meeting, there were no indications of any new flexibility from Mr Arafat.
Irrespective of the result of last night's talks, teams of Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are again heading off to the US for three days of intensive meetings, which will be curtailed by the advent of Jewish New Year on Friday, and which will determine whether President Clinton invites Mr Barak and Mr Arafat to another summit.
The new year this time will have particular political significance in Israel and, potentially, the region: Israel's attorney general, Mr Elyakim Rubinstein, has promised to decide by then whether to press bribery charges against the former prime minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu.
If Mr Netanyahu is not required to stand trial, he is likely to return to lead the opposition, and challenge Mr Barak's already tenuous hold on power.