The Palestinian leader, Mr Yasser Arafat, arrived in Washington last night to hear the latest US plan for peace in the Middle East, as the departing Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, indicated that he had problems with it.
Following an unscheduled late night meeting with President Clinton in the White House, Mr Netanyahu said that "we made some progress" but "more work needs to be done in the next two weeks".
The US plan to end the impasse in the implementing of the 1993 Oslo peace agreement for a phased Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank will be put to Mr Arafat when he meets President Clinton today.
Mr Arafat will also visit the Holocaust Museum after its director withdrew an invitation and then renewed it following criticism of his action.
Details of the latest US plan for breaking the deadlock have not been officially revealed but are believed to allow for a succession of smaller withdrawals of Israeli troops than originally envisaged. These withdrawals would be in exchange for the Palestinians adopting a series of security measures including arrests of suspected terrorists and intelligence sharing.
Mr Netanyahu told a press conference: "I am prepared to make a redeployment, I am prepared to take actions which are not easy. I am not prepared to put Israel at risk, to jeopardise the survival of the one Jewish state".
It has also emerged that Mr Clinton reproached Mr Netanyahu for meeting beforehand the Christian fundamentalist preacher, Rev Jerry Falwell, who, the President said, has distributed videos implying that Mr Clinton is an accomplice to murder.
Speaking at the National Press Club, Mr Netanyahu said his talks with Mr Clinton had focused on Palestinian compliance with peace commitments and Israel's plans for further troop withdrawals from the West Bank.
He stressed Israeli demands that the Palestinians comply with commitments to halt terrorism and said only then would Israel go ahead with redeployments. "Our first request is that the previous agreements be kept before we do additional agreements," he said.
Although he gave no details of new ideas he and Mr Clinton brought to Tuesday's two sessions of talks, Mr Netanyahu said: "I have outlined for you what I think are the elements of an agreement that could be struck."
He added: "When we have this exchange of Palestinian compliance for a partial Israeli withdrawal we can proceed to what I think is the real business at hand and that is determining a permanent peace settlement that will address the needs of Israelis and Palestinians alike.