Members of Mr Benjamin Netanyahu's own Likud party are limiting the Israeli Prime Minister's room for manoeuvre at the Wye River summit in Maryland, writes David Horovitz from Jerusalem.
They have been warning him that if he returns with a deal that does not satisfy them, he could lose their support and thus his governing majority.
Four Likud government ministers are demanding that any agreement reached at the summit be submitted for approval by the Likud's central committee, the party's unwieldy and somewhat unpredictable policy-making forum, before it is even brought before the cabinet.
One of the quartet, the Communications Minister, Ms Limor Livnat, yesterday set out the parameters of what she would deem a reasonable deal, insisting that it provide for the extradition from Palestinian-controlled areas of suspected Islamic militants for trial in Israel, the amending of the PLO Covenant and a guarantee that Israel would have to give up little further West Bank land in the framework of the interim accords.
It could be that these hawkish positions have been set out by Ms Livnat and her cabinet colleagues as part of a well-orchestrated campaign by Mr Netanyahu himself, designed to demonstrate to the Palestinians and the Americans the precariousness of his domestic political position. But other, lower-ranking coalition legislators, members of the hardline so-called "Land of Israel Front", are also warning him of a possible withdrawal of support if they are not happy with the deal. And they are not play-acting.
Nevertheless, offsetting such threats, Mr Netanyahu has been given assurances by some members of the moderate opposition Labour Party that they will vote to keep him in power if he signs an agreement in the United States. And even if the prime minister were to ignore those assurances, he would be very well placed, on signing a deal, to dissolve the coalition himself and initiate new elections, confident of being returned to power with a larger, more centrist majority.
Jewish settler groups, fearful that a deal may be imminent, yesterday blocked roads in the West Bank as a sign of protest, and larger, more disruptive demonstrations are planned for today.
Mr Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority, meanwhile, evidently anxious to prevent further Hamas attacks undermining the summit, has been arresting leading Hamas activists in Hebron, home town of Monday's Beersheba grenade-thrower, Mr Salam Sarsur.
Mr Sarsur reportedly has admitted responsibility for stabbing a rabbi to death in Hebron in August, and for a grenade attack there earlier this month which injured a dozen soldiers and a similar number of Palestinians.