Divided over so many aspects of relations with their Arab neighbours, the Israeli people and their leaders are, for once, uniting in their grief over the demise of King Hussein.
Perhaps the most popular of all foreign statesmen here, the Jordanian monarch has for decades been appreciated, even loved, in Israel; not only for his commitment to regional peace and co-operation, but also for the humane directness with which he expressed it.
Throughout the day yesterday, as Israeli radio and television broadcast the ups and downs of medical reports from Amman, politicians, diplomats and even secret service agents lined up to offer their personal memories of this warmest of Arab leaders.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, who disappointed the king by failing to speedily advance peace-making with the Palestinians, declared accurately that "the entire people of Israel are praying that a miracle will happen". Mr Shimon Peres, the former prime minister, marvelled at the king's "uncanny ability to touch the heart" of those who came into contact with him.
Mr Danny Yatom, the ex-head of the Mossad intelligence service, quoted the king, when he travelled to Israel in November 1995 to attend the funeral of his true Israeli soulmate, the assassinated prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, lamenting that he had "lost my best friend". Israelis, commonly and quite remarkably, speak of King Hussein as "our king", and will evidently feel his loss more acutely and personally than that of any figure, international or domestic, since Mr Rabin.
The affection for him was cemented unforgettably two years ago when, after a Jordanian soldier had shot dead seven Israeli schoolgirls on a trip to the Naharayim "island of peace" on the joint border, the king paid condolence calls to the homes of each of the grieving families, begging on bended knee before them for forgiveness, and promising to devote the rest of his life to the cause of peace.
Although Israel's soldiers fought and died in battles against his forces in the first third of his reign, the king turned from enemy to friend, even privately warning Israel of the imminent Syrian and Egyptian attack in the 1973 Arab-Israel war, and it is for the strategic relationship over the last three decades that Israel is so gravely rueing the demise of its constant, dependable ally to the East.
First secretly, and then since their 1994 peace treaty, Israel and King Hussein's Jordan have been the closest of partners, sharing a common desire to deter Iraqi adventurism, resist Syrian expansionism, and contain Palestinian aspirations.
Government officials in Jerusalem, while publicly expressing confidence in a smooth transition of authority to the king's eldest son, Prince Abdullah, are privately concerned that the new heir lacks the experience and influence to champion peace with Israel as effectively as his father did, and are only too aware of how much King Hussein will be missed as they struggle to reach a permanent peace treaty with Mr Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian leadership.
The loss of the king takes on additional potential significance because Israel's political leaders are in the early stages of campaigning for May's general elections.
If the changeover in Amman is smooth, the political impact here could be only marginal.
But if Jordan now enters a period of instability, it is possible that an anxious, cautious Israeli electorate may incline more to stick with the ultra-sceptical, slowly-slowly approach to peacemaking with the Arab world favoured by Mr Netanyahu these past 32 months, rather than embrace the pledges of accelerated compromise offered by the Prime Minister's more moderate opposition rivals.
AFP adds: Col Zyad el-Atrash, a leading Palestinian military figure, died of a heart attack in an east Jerusalem hospital yesterday, medical officials said.
Col Atrash (54) was a member of both the Palestinian National Council and the revolutionary council of the Fatah movement founded by the Palestinian leader, Mr Yasser Arafat. He had been admitted to hospital following medical treatment in Jordan.