Egyptian President Mr Hosni Mubarak, in Washington to see President Bush today, made an impassioned plea for US intervention between Israelis and Palestinian "whether they like it or not."
"We have to do whatever we can, with the administration here, to bring the two parties together," Mr Mubarak told a lunch organized by the Council on Foreign Relations.
"They should sit, whether they like it or not. We have to find a solution. They have to break the vicious circle and sit and exchange views with the help of the United States and Egypt and other countries."
Alarmed by days of extreme violence between Israelis and Palestinians, Mr Mubarak has invited Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Mr Yasser Arafat to meet in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
But Israeli officials said they saw no point in such a meeting at this stage. Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell said it was up to the parties to decide whether they meet.
Mr Mubarak, who meets President Bush at the White House later this evening, said the consequences would be terrible if the violence continues at the current level.
"There is no time now to lose. The Israeli side are losing civilians, the people are terrified, living in horror and the same thing on the other side. So we have to move as quickly as possible to bring the two parties together," he said.
The White House today offered little sign it would use Mr Mubarak's visit to step up its low-key mediation, restricted in recent weeks to occasional telephone calls and contacts with Israelis and Palestinians through its diplomats on the ground.
It also said that any third-party initiatives, such as one by Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, would need the approval of both Israel and the Palestinians.
US Middle East envoy Mr Anthony Zinni left the region in early January and Washington has not said when he will return. US officials say they will not intervene just to placate public opinion when the prospects of success seem so low.