At long last, there is a glimmer of political hope emerging from the destructive violence between Israel and the Palestinians, which is hovering uneasily between military escalation and political engagement.
The informal initiative floated by Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in a newspaper interview last week has taken wing in recent days. He said his government would be willing to recognise Israel and normalise relations with the Jewish state if it withdraws to the borders it had before capturing the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Six Day War. He explained that he was going to present the proposal formally at a meeting of the Arab League next month but had decided to withdraw it because of military escalation by Israel.
He may not have anticipated the immediately positive response it would receive in Israel, Europe and the Arab world, which has now grown to take in a much more favourable response by the United States. President Bush yesterday telephoned the Saudi leader to congratulate him, and Mr Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, is to discuss it with him today. Mr Solana told journalists Mr Sharon is willing to meet Saudi leaders to explore the proposal. The Egyptian and Jordanian governments welcomed it. They have encouraged the Arab group (including the Palestinians) at the United Nations Security Council to encorporate, for the first time, normalised relations with Israel after a just settlement in a new draft resolution.
Some further details have been revealed about the Saudi proposal which will not appeal to the Israeli government. They include an end to Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and shared jurisdiction over Jerusalem. But the Israeli public have clearly begun to tire of the endless military conflict resulting from Mr Sharon's policies. They have completely failed to deliver the security he promised when he came to power a year ago. The possibility that recognition and normalisation with its Arab neighbours could follow a settlement is a huge political and psychological boost which no Israeli leadership can ignore.
This potential breakthrough vindicates those who have insisted that political and security initiatives must go hand in hand and may be the last chance to retrieve a negotiated settlement.