Tuesday's terror attacks in the US are making an impact on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - most dramatically in a concerted effort by the Israeli right to delegitimise Mr Yasser Arafat, whom they are characterising as the local equivalent of Mr Osama bin Laden.
In these first days after Black Tuesday, with the world's attention focused elsewhere, Israel has several times sent troops into Palestinian-controlled West Bank cities - with an estimated 12 Palestinians killed in Jenin this week - in what it has described as an effort to root out the Islamic extremists who have orchestrated recent suicide bombings in Israel.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, meanwhile, has been telling the Americans that the Palestinian Authority President, Mr Arafat, is the local bin Laden, an advocate of terrorism heading a "coalition of terror".
In a telephone conversation with the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, Mr Sharon is said to have asserted that Mr Arafat "really has a choice between being a bin Laden or being a partner for peace". Even the Foreign Minister, Mr Shimon Peres, one of the last mainstream advocates of a renewed attempt at peacemaking with Mr Arafat, has been urging the PA leader "once and for all" to put a halt to Palestinian attacks on Israel.
Indeed, a public declaration to that effect by Mr Arafat is now apparently regarded as an Israeli pre-condition for tentatively scheduled Peres-Arafat ceasefire talks on the Israeli-Gaza border tomorrow.
Palestinian leaders, for their part, are accusing Israel of taking advantage of the changed international climate to intensify military action against them - something Israeli officials, privately at least, make no attempt to deny.
In fact, aides to Mr Sharon say they believe they will now get full US support for Mr Sharon's long-standing insistence on a "complete halt" to violence before a return to the peace table.
On Mr Arafat's instructions, Palestinian leaders have expended considerable effort in the past three days in trying to undo the damage caused by the spontaneous expressions of delight that were evidenced on the streets of East Jerusalem, Nablus and other West Bank cities when news of the hijack-bombings broke on Tuesday afternoon.
Camera crews that filmed celebratory marches in Nablus have been "requested" by Mr Arafat's aides not to broadcast their footage.
Ms Hanan Ashrawi, the Ramallah-based Arab League spokeswoman, said the footage distorted the true, mainstream response to the bombings, which she said was one of grief for the loss of innocent lives.
Mr Arafat had himself been filmed giving blood as a graphic illustration of condolence and support for the US, and condolence ceremonies were held in Palestinian schools.
Mr Arafat cancelled a scheduled visit to Syria this week - realising that it might be sensible to avoid a high-profile visit to a country that features on the State Department's register of states that sponsor terrorism.
There is little doubt, however, that the outbursts of public delight reflected popular anti-American sentiment among the Palestinians, whose leadership has made plain in recent months that it considers the US administration to be following a pro-Israel bias.