US diplomats are meeting in Washington this week with senior Israeli and Palestinian officials as CIA chief Mr George Tenet prepares to embark on a trip to the Middle East.
While announcing the meeting, the US State Department also sent Congress a report that found "no conclusive evidence" that senior Palestinian officials, including Mr Yasser Arafat, were implicated in anti-Israel attacks last year.
"There is no conclusive evidence that the senior leaderships of the [Palestinian Authority] or PLO were involved in planning or approving specific acts of violence," the report said.
However, the report, a semi-annual accounting of the Palestinine Liberation Organisation's and Palestinian Authority's compliance with 1993 Oslo peace accords, covers only the period from June 16th to December 15th, 2001.
It does not include attacks or incidents after that, notably suicide bombings earlier this year that led to Israel's recent military operations in the West Bank.
The 13-page document faulted the Palestinian leadership for incomplete compliance with parts of the peace accord, including failure to punish perpetrators of anti-Israeli attacks, during the reporting period.
Since the end of that period, though, US officials have said there is evidence that senior Palestinian officials, and perhaps Mr Arafat, were involved in the foiled "Karine A" arms smuggling operation in January.
Israel maintains Mr Arafat and his top aides were directly involved in funding numerous attacks on Israelis and says it has uncovered documents to prove the allegations.
As Congress consider the report, State Department spokesman Mr Richard Boucher said US efforts to bring Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table continued.
Mr Boucher said Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage met with Israeli General Moshe Yaalon, who is to assume the post of chief of staff of the Israeli Defense Force in July.
"They discussed the situation in the region and our efforts to end the violence and terror and progress towards a resumption of a political dialogue," he said.
Other department officials were meeting with Mr Mohammed Rashid, Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat's economic adviser, who is in Washington on personal business.