SEVERAL months ago, Mrs Cela Netanyahu, the 84 year old mother of Israel's Prime Minister, gave an interview to the Washington Post newspaper. It was primarily about her eldest son, Yoni, who was killed leading the 1976 Israeli commando rescue of hostages held by Palestinian hijackers at Entebbe airport in Uganda.
However, yesterday, a day after the Washington Post finally got around to publishing its article, Israeli newspapers devoted part of their front pages to reporting the Prime Minister's mother's pessimistic views on the possibilities of reconciliation with Israel's Middle East neighbours.
Peace with the Arabs? "Ridiculous," Mrs Netanyahu is quoted as saying bitterly. "There will be peace. . . if we don't exist."
The Prime Minister's office hurried to explain that Mrs Netanyahu had agreed to the rare interview on the specific understanding that it would not stray into politics and current affairs. There was no doubting the unfortunate timing of the publication of her remarks, just as Israeli Palestinian peace efforts lapse back into their familiar crisis mode.
The Post article also featured a quotation from Mr Benjamin Netanyahu's 1993 book, A Place Among the Nations, hardly likely to improve his troubled relationship with the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat. "The PLO is committed, sinews and flesh, tooth and nail," he wrote, "to the eradication of Israel by any means.
Mr Arafat was last night meeting his most senior officials, having described the peace process as being in "a real crisis". Infuriated by Israel's unilateral decision to pull back from less West Bank land than he had been anticipating in the current stage of the phased transfer of control, Mr Arafat accused Israel of tricks and conspiracies.
Mr Arafat's aides said he had been considering leaving Gaza in despair, and relocating to Cairo.
Aides of Mr Netanyahu say it is inconceivable that Israel will offer Mr Arafat more than the 9 per cent of the West Bank it has said it is ready to transfer to various degrees of Palestinian control at this stage.
Mr Netanyahu Hew out of Israel on a visit to Russia. Reading the newspapers he will have discovered that his mother had some implied words of criticism for him as well. Noting that the Entebbe hijackers were demanding the release of 53 Palestinian prisoners' in exchange for their hostages, she wonders why Israel refused, only for successive governments, including the current one, to free "thousands of prisoners ... For that, Yoni had to be killed. It wasn't worth it."
David Horovitz is managing editor of the Jerusalem Report
Reuter adds from Washington: President Clinton said yesterday he and President Mubarak of Egypt had agreed to seek ways to try to revive the Syrian Israeli, track of the Middle East peace process.
Mr Clinton also defended the US decision to veto a UN resolution condemning Israel for deciding to build housing in East Jerusalem but said it did not constitute US approval of Israel's action. Speaking at a news conference with Mr Mubarak, Mr Clinton said the US felt the proposed UN criticism of Israel would have damaged efforts to promote Israeli Palestinian peace negotiations.