"Enough is enough. The storm of violence cannot go on", said President Bush when he launched his current Middle East initiative after a dangerous escalation of conflict in Israel and the occupied territories of Palestine.
Events in the intervening nine days have tragically borne out his warning. A dreadful spiral of violence has killed hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis. Thousands of Palestinians have been arrested and hundreds of thousands forced to stay indoors. There are mounting international calls for firmer action against Israel, demands that Mr Yasser Arafat act to prevent suicide bombings and that both sides should accept international monitors to supervise a ceasefire and initiate political dialogue.
The US Secretary of State, Mr Powell, was confronted yesterday with dramatic evidence of the conflict when a suicide bomber killed seven Israelis in Jerusalem after his talks with the Israeli prime minister, Mr Sharon. They made some progress towards a disengagement, but much will depend on his encounter with Mr Arafat. Without an agreed timetable for Israeli withdrawal and firm evidence of a willingness by Mr Arafat to take action against terrorism it is difficult to see a breakthrough.
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Given the radical shift in US policy towards the conflict last week, Mr Bush should not be too surprised that disengagement has been so slow to materialise. His attitude to Mr Sharon has been indulgent, heeding the Israeli leader's demand for the firmest action to uproot the infrastructure responsible for suicide bombing attacks on Israeli citizens. Mr Bush has denounced Mr Arafat's failure to take action against terrorism but justifiably resisted calls for his removal. His administration is clearly divided on its approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, how it is linked to a possible attack on Iraq and whether to tackle this crisis alone or with its European and Middle Eastern partners. These inconsistencies and ambiguities are showing up in US management of the crisis and in Israel's response to it.
They can be resolved only by a much more determined and co-operative approach by the US Government. Mr Powell has been reminded repeatedly that the US has the military and economic leverage over Israel to insist on an immediate halt of this operation and a rapid withdrawal to its 1967 borders. That pressure is best executed through the United Nations and in co-operation with European and other US partners. This would allow the moderate Arab states to exert their pressure on Mr Arafat to prevent suicide bombings - in full awareness that his capacity to do so has been gravely undermined by these events. They certainly have an interest in doing so to head off mounting popular anger.
Mr Sharon shows little sign of accepting such pressure. He has become more reliant on rightwing cabinet allies. In the short term this destructive operation enjoys widespread support from an Israeli public horrified by the atrocities against civilians and determined to defend their state. In a longer perspective their security is best achieved by a political settlement, not by the bleak prospect of endless war.