THERE are hopes that the White House Middle East summit will end in Washington today with a pledge by the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to resume the peace "process thrown into disarray by last week's violent clashes on the West Bank.
European foreign ministers yesterday issued a declaration remarkable in the forthrightness of its criticism of Israel.
Moreover, the EU believes that it would greatly help to restore calm and confidence if the Hasmonean tunnel in Jerusalem were restored to "its original state".
The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian president, Mr Yasser Arafat, shook hands to break the tension as they waited in the Roosevelt Room for the Oval Office meeting with President Clinton. Later they met alone at lunch.
The President, during a brief photo opportunity, insisted that the separate meetings he had earlier had with the two Middle East leaders and King Hussein of Jordan had gone well. He rejected a suggestion that he was putting any pressure on Mr Netanyahu over the opening of the tunnel.
Mr Clinton said that the presence of Mr Netanyahu and Mr Arafat "symbolises our commitment to end the violence and get the peace process going again. What we're going to do is go to work, see how far we can go, see what we can produce.
But US domestic politics intruded when the Republican presidential challenger, Mr Bob Dole, accused Mr Clinton of indulging in "photo-op foreign policy". The White House was also irritated to learn than Mr Netanyahu would be meeting Mr Dole.
Speaking after the EU ministers' meeting in Luxembourg, the Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Spring, warned of the precariousness of the peace process and spoke of the urgent need for practical measures set out by ministers to restore its momentum.
Officials also expressed confidence that the EU troika, led by Mr Spring, would visit the region within weeks as part of the follow up to the summit.
During the first day of the summit Mr Spring forwarded the strong EU statement to the US Secretary of State, Mr Warren Christopher. Mr Spring had also briefed Mr Christopher by telephone on the meeting between Mr Arafat and the EU troika.
All sides agreed to a news black out during the summit to increase its chances of success. The participants were virtually smuggled into the White House to avoid the media.
There were unconfirmed reports that Mr Arafat had sent a letter in advance to President Clinton setting out five demands for a resumption of the peace process. Mr Arafat also had a meeting in Washington with the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mr Amr Moussa, who is representing President Mubarak as an observer but is not taking part in the talks.
While the EU ministers statement calls on both sides to exercise restraint and on the Palestinians to exert full control over their police, it specifically describes the use of "firearms, tanks and helicopter gunships" as "disproportionate". It calls on Israel not to send troops into autonomous Palestinian areas, "contrary to the spirit and letter of the interim agreement".