The outlook is bleak indeed for the Middle Last peace process following the outbreak of severe fighting in Gaza and the West Bank in the last two days. This is a crisis, whether measured by the shocking list of casualties, or the way in which affairs are running out of the control of the political leaderships on the ground.
One can readily see, in retrospect, how this eruption arose from a combination of obduracy, complacency and rank bad judgment on the part of the new Israeli government in its first 100 days, and from Mr Arafat's defensive reaction to this grave political setback to Palestinian aspirations for a settlement with Israel.
The decision by the Israeli authorities to reopen an ancient tunnel along Temple Mount on Monday was the last straw for many Palestinians who had watched the incremental rolling back of the achievements under the Oslo accords in the three months since Mr Netanyahu was elected.
It beggars belief that it should have been done at the start of a trip by the prime minister designed to reassure European governments that he means to pursue the peace process in a genuinely determined fashion. That he had to cut short his trip so abruptly is a humiliation. It will serve to concentrate European attention on the dangers inherent in an unravelling of the peace process.
The Tanaiste, Mr Spring, speaking on behalf of the EU Presidency in New York yesterday, underlined once again the urgency of containing this renewed outbreak of conflict and the fundamental interests of the international community in doing so.
Too much is at stake in the Middle East to allow the situation to spiral rapidly towards a war that might engulf many more parties than the Israelis and the Palestinians. As this newspaper's Israeli correspondent writes in these pages today, it is difficult to reach a rational understanding of Mr Netanyahu's political calculations. If he is intent on provoking a war in which a victory would copper fasten Israel's security for another generation - as many of his supporters believe - he has gone about it in a peculiarly inept fashion. His behaviour has galvanised the Palestinians and Arab states into unusual unity against Israel. He cannot rely on US support, despite the election campaign. The rest of the international community, including the EU, will feel they have sufficient interests at stake to exert maximum influence to prevent an outbreak of war.
The alternative explanation for the Israeli government's policy - arrogant incompetence is, unfortunately, more plausible and arguably just as dangerous. The fundamental premise on which the Oslo accords have been built is of the creation of a Palestinian authority which would lead to autonomy and then to a settlement dealing with the issues of sovereignty and the status of Jerusalem.
Despite his opposition to a Palestinian state, Mr Netanyahu has maintained that he wants the peace process to continue. And yet by his actions he has seemed to give the go ahead to efforts to undermine it. In the process he has undermined the authority of Israel's indispensable negotiating partner, Mr Arafat.
There seems little prospect that the two leaders can reverse these events and restore relative stability now that passions have erupted so violently and have involved armed police in battles with the Israeli army. Decisive international action will be required to prevent a dangerous spillover of conflict to the whole Middle East region.