DRAMATIC 11th hour intervention by Jordan's King Hussein appears to have salvaged an accord between Israel and the Palestinians over the Israeli military withdrawal from Hebron and the next phases of the peace process.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are to meet this morning to complete the deal. Barring further last minute complications, the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian leader, Mr Yasser Arafat, are to sign it at a modest ceremony on the Israel Gaza border early this afternoon.
The breakthrough came after Mr Dennis Ross, the US mediator, despairing of reaching an agreement, invited the king to try to work his magic on the two sides.
King Hussein duly helicoptered in from Jordan to Gaza yesterday afternoon and, after seven hours of consultations with Mr Arafat flew on to Tel Aviv last night for talks with Mr Netanyahu. By the time he returned home, the deadlock had been broken.
Israel and the Palestinians, the king said at a short Tel Aviv press conference, were on "the verge of the completion of a long road".
Mr Netanyahu added: "The end of the negotiation is in sight."
Mr Ross had been on the point of throwing in the towel, flying back to Washington overnight and reporting to President Clinton on his failure to persuade the Israelis and Palestinians to finalise their long delayed agreement.
His appeal to King Hussein followed a further weekend's shuttle diplomacy that involved the Israelis, the Palestinians and the Egyptians.
The agreement which would see the Israeli army withdraw from 80 per cent of Hebron, redeploying in that one fifth of the city which is also home to some 500 Jewish settlers, was actually finalised several days ago.
The trouble was that Mr Arafat was not prepared to sign such a deal unless Mr Netanyahu gave him a simultaneous commitment to withdraw from other areas of the West Bank by September, as outlined in the framework Oslo accords.
Mr Netanyahu wanted to complete these further withdrawals much later, in early 1999 - about the same time as the two sides are supposed to be nearing their permanent peace treaty.
Where King Hussein apparently succeeded yesterday was in persuading the two sides to accept a compromise formulation, providing for the completion of the next Israeli redeployments by "mid1998".
The US, furthermore, is understood to be giving both sides a letter guaranteeing this timetable, and setting out guarantees for further mutual steps towards peace - including Palestinian disarming of Islamic militant groups, and Israeli releases of Palestinian prisoners.
Reuter adds:
Mr Netanyahu told a news conference late last night: "I think there was significant progress on the subjects that are not connected with Hebron.
"As you know, the Hebron agreement is effectively complete and this evening, I think with the important help of King Hussein, we have made another advance.
"There are still details which we have to take care of. With the help and goodwill of all the sides, Jordan and Egypt, I believe we can complete the negotiations."
A PLO official who asked not to be identified said after the meeting: "King Hussein, US envoy Dennis Ross and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telephoned Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and told him Netanyahu has accepted the formula.
"I think because of the important initiative that His Majesty took we have made considerable progress and I think we can envision the end of the negotiations in sight."
The PLO had been reluctant to sign an accord on Hebron, where some 500 Jewish settlers live amid more than 100,000 Palestinians, without a commitment from Israel to carry out the additional West Bank pullbacks agreed in previous peace deals.
. Mr Netanyahu yesterday apologised for giving the head of the Greek Catholic church in Israel a silver model of Jerusalem last month which showed a reconstructed Jewish temple atop the Temple Mount, in place of the two mosques which actually stand there. The prime minister's spokesman said the choice of gift was "a regrettable oversight."