Three weeks after the collapse of negotiations at the Camp David peace summit, indications are growing that Israeli and Palestinian leaders may soon convene for another summit, and that the Palestinian Authority President, Mr Yasser Arafat, may not issue a formal declaration of Palestinian statehood on September 13th.
The Israeli acting Foreign Minister, Mr Shlomo Ben-Ami, is to meet this evening with senior Palestinian negotiators including the Speaker of the Palestinian Parliament, Mr Abu Ala, to begin working towards a follow-up to the Camp David summit.
Mr Ben-Ami said yesterday a second summit could only take place if there was "a near-certainty, or maybe even absolute certainty" it would yield a peace deal. The Camp David talks broke down after two weeks of intensive negotiation, when Mr Arafat refused to discuss US proposals on a shared status for Arab East Jerusalem and the Old City.
Mr Ben-Ami said that significant progress had been made at Camp David on all other outstanding issues, including the fate of Palestinian refugees; the future of West Bank Jewish settlements; and the demarcation of a border between Israel and a future Palestinian state.
In the wake of the summit, Mr Arafat and various Israeli cabinet ministers have been trooping from foreign capital to foreign capital, outlining their respective positions and seeking international support.
Mr Arafat, who has been on the move almost every day since the summit ended, visiting 18 countries, has won widespread support in principle for Palestinian nationhood, but has been advised, even by close allies, to formally declare independence only with Israeli and US backing.
In Beijing, for example, President Jiang Zemin suggested that Mr Arafat declare statehood "at the appropriate moment to achieve the best possible result", a stance not dissimilar to that adopted by another Palestinian ally, Russia.
Such international equivocation apparently prompted Mr Arafat yesterday to indicate readiness to return to the negotiating table. President Clinton, he recalled, had suggested that "maybe we will come back after the Democratic convention".
The likelihood is of a second summit next month, by which time other Arab leaders plan to meet to discuss with Mr Arafat how far, if at all, he should moderate his demand for full Palestinian sovereignty.