Now that it has made the decision to become fully engaged in the escalating conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, the Bush administration has much ground to make up with the major parties involved. Despite increasingly sharp exchanges with the Israeli leader, Mr Ariel Sharon, President Bush has so far not persuaded him to halt the massive punitive operation in the occupied territories and withdraw, as called for unanimously by the United Nations Security Council.
This puts the United States's credibility as a broker in the conflict at issue even before last week's welcome and necessary decision to re-engage comes properly into play.
The Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, will not reach Israel until the end of the week and has still not decided whether he will meet the Palestinian leader, Mr Yasser Arafat. Such uncertainty encourages speculation that US policy is aimed at replacing him. Mr Powell is likely to find that unacceptable to the Egyptian, Jordanian and Saudi leaderships he will meet, as well as to the US's European allies. Mr Arafat is recognised by them as the legitimate leader of his people, all the more so when he and they have come under such unrelenting pressure over the last two weeks. A decision not to meet Mr Arafat would jeopardise international efforts to scale down the crisis.
Mr Powell rightly believes the Palestinian leadership must publicly condemn the suicide bombers whose attacks on Israeli civilians provoked the current Israeli operation and demonstrably distance themselves from them. He is hoping to persuade the Arab leaders to put pressure on Mr Arafat to do so and to send out the same clear message. Their insistence that Israel must withdraw and their greater outspokenness in the face of mounting popular fury in the Arab world about Mr Sharon's policies finally tipped the balance in Washington's deep-seated policy debate about how to handle the crisis.
It was made quite clear to the Vice-President, Mr Cheney, during his recent tour of the region that any US action against Iraq would have no support until the Israel-Palestinian issue is tackled and resolved along the lines of the Arab League summit declaration last month. Several UN Security Council resolutions have spelled out the steps to be taken and the principles which should apply in reaching a settlement. Mr Bush's keynote speech last Thursday built on those foundations. It represented a major development in the policy of his administration, recognising the importance of the region for world stability and the need to work cooperatively with Arab states and European allies to tackle the conflict.
Having made that commitment, the Bush administration's credibility is now on the line to deliver upon it. That must bring its influence fully to bear in balancing two critical requirements: Palestinian rights to independence in a viable state and Israel's right to legitimate security and recognition. The last 18 months have made their achievement much more difficult - and much more necessary in the interests of justice and stability for the Middle East and the rest of the world. Mr Powell carries a heavy burden of responsibility on his journey this week.