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Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State, made her first visit to the Middle East on 9 September 1997, after several months of deadlock in peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Netanyahu’s election to the Israeli government triggered a wave of conflict with the Palestinians, with the construction of a new settlement in the Arab part of Jerusalem, the ‘tunnel affair’, the resumption of Jewish settlement in Gaza and the West Bank, land confiscations, the demolition of Palestinian homes, etc.

US diplomacy is running at half speed. Albright is trying to prevent tensions from escalating in a region that is strategic for US interests. But at the same time, Washington is systematically preventing any condemnation of Netanyahu’s policy ; never putting pressure on Israel to change its policy.

If Albright fails, says Hemi Shalev in Yedioth Ahronoth, ‘it is likely that the next attack will lead to a violent and widespread confrontation with the Palestinians, and even possibly to a regional war.’ This opinion is not marginal ; it is shared by almost all Israeli observers.