The much-battered process of Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking has now reached its "moment of truth", President Yasser Arafat's deputy, Mr Abu Mazen, declared last night, as the two sides formally began negotiations on a permanent peace treaty.
Six years to the day after Mr Arafat and the late Yitzhak Rabin shook hands on the White House lawn to initiate the Middle East peace process, and more than four months after that process, according to the original schedule, was to have been successfully completed, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators gathered last night on the Israel-Gaza border to pledge their joint determination to resolve the last, and most problematic, differences between them.
The new Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, and Mr Arafat have committed themselves to reaching a "framework" deal by February, and a full accord by September 13th next year. But, as commentators on both sides have noted wryly in the past few days, the only thing the negotiators now agree on is that this timetable is impossible.
The Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr David Levy, leading his country's delegation spelt out four guiding Israeli principles: Israel would not withdraw to its pre-1967 borders; Jerusalem would remain united under its sovereignty; Jewish settlements would remain in the West Bank under Israeli rule; and there could be no foreign army west of the Jordan river.
Mr Mazen, in his speech, promptly rejected all four principles: the Palestinians sought sovereignty over all West Bank and Gaza areas captured by Israel in 1967, he said; they sought to establish their capital in Jerusalem, the settlements would have to go, and the state of Palestine would be fully independent, and thus free, presumably, to have an army and adopt any of the other actions that sovereign states take.
Mr Barak has been hinting that perhaps only a partial deal will be possible next year. Last night, however, Mr Mazen was adamant that everything should be tied up within a year. "The time has come," he said, "for a historic reconciliation."