The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mr Yasser Arafat, who held talks with Jordan's King Abdullah yesterday as part of his lobbying effort for Palestinian statehood, is evidently successfully shifting Israeli public opinion as well.
For the first time, an opinion poll published here yesterday suggested that a majority of Israelis are not merely grudgingly reconciled to the notion of a neighbouring independent state called Palestine, but actually support the Palestinian aspiration to statehood.
Asked whether they believed the Palestinians were justified in seeking an independent state, 55 per cent of the respondents said Yes, 43 per cent, No.
Asked the same question six months ago, only 45 per cent had said they believed the Palestinians should have their own state.
The issue of Palestinian statehood is at the heart of Israel's May 17th elections. The Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, is firmly opposed to a fully independent Palestine. His main challengers, Mr Ehud Barak of Labour and the centrist candidate, Mr Yitzhak Mordechai, take more equivocal positions.
Yesterday's poll also found that 69 per cent of Israelis believe that the current peace process will ultimately lead to Palestinian statehood, as opposed to just 25 per cent who think that it will not.
Mr Arafat has publicly contemplated a unilateral declaration of statehood on May 4th, when the interim Oslo peace timetable with Israel expires.
But King Abdullah yesterday joined a long list of Arab and other international leaders who have urged Mr Arafat to delay such a declaration - fearing that it would boost support for Mr Netanyahu in the elections that fall just two weeks after that date - and who have pledged recognition for Palestine if it is established through negotiation with Israel.
According to Prof Ephraim Ya'ar of Tel Aviv University the growing support for Palestinian statehood is explained by "a gradual erosion in Israeli fears" as regards Palestinian intentions.
This trend, he noted, is illustrated by the response to another question: Would most Palestinians destroy the state of Israel if they could? Four years ago, 70 per cent of Israelis surveyed answered Yes. Last year, the number had fallen to 60 per cent. In the latest poll, conducted last week, it has dropped to 48 per cent.
Rather than revolving directly around the question of which government will better deal with the issue of Palestinian statehood, the survey suggests, May's elections could centre more on the status of Jerusalem - the city that most Israelis insist must remain under their full sovereignty, and where the Palestinians also seek to establish their capital.
Asked whether they thought all Israeli governments would eventually come to a compromise with the Palestinians over Jerusalem, almost two-thirds of respondents said No. Mr Netanyahu came to power in 1996 partly by asserting that his opponent, Mr Shimon Peres of Labour, would be prepared to cede partial sovereignty in the city to Mr Arafat.
Mr Peres's successor, Mr Barak, has spent the past few weeks resisting a similar effort by Mr Netanyahu to brand him, too, as "soft" on Jerusalem.
Keenly aware of the vote-winning potential of a tough stance on Jerusalem, Mr Netanyahu yesterday ordered three Palestinian offices in the Arab eastern half of the city closed. Palestinian leaders dismissed the closure orders as an election gimmick.
Twenty-seven people were wounded in clashes between Arab Christians and Muslims in Nazareth yesterday, police said. They said the fighting started after morning prayers, but residents said it started when Christians attacked a group of Muslims after midnight Mass.