MIDDLE EAST: Neither Ariel Sharon nor Mahmoud Abbas is in a strong position - which may propel both towards a peaceful settlement, writes Michael Jansen
Egypt called the four-way summit next Tuesday to compel Palestinians and Israelis to stop bickering over security arrangements and conclude a mutual ceasefire.
Such a meeting was unthinkable as long as the Palestinian National Authority was headed by Yasser Arafat, who was shunned by Israel and the US.
While the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, had promised to meet the new Palestinian president, Mr Mahmoud Abbas, this encounter was not scheduled until the Egyptian president, Mr Hosni Mubarak, intervened.
It was an offer neither Mr Sharon nor Mr Abbas could refuse.
It will be the first visit to Egypt by Mr Sharon since he became prime minister in 2001 as Mr Mubarak has refused to meet the Israeli leader. Mr Mubarak recently signalled a change of heart when he said that Mr Sharon represented the "best opportunity for peace".
Mr Abbas, who has not met Mr Sharon since 2003, could not refuse Egypt, which has been acting as regional peace-broker.
Mr Mubarak also expects to relaunch the so-called "road map" peace plan for a phased emergence of a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
This plan, drawn up in 2002-2003 by the UN, the US, Russia and Europe, was launched by President Bush at a summit at the Jordanian Red Sea resort of Aqaba in June 2003.
However the "road map" did not prosper because Washington did not push it and because Mr Sharon demanded a total cessation of attacks by Palestinian militants on Israeli targets as a precondition for implementing what was required of Israel.
Although Mr Abbas, then prime minister, delivered a 50- day ceasefire, Israel did not halt its raids into Palestinian cities or assassinations of Palestinian leaders. The ceasefire collapsed before the "road map" could be implemented.
Thereafter, Mr Sharon promulgated his own proposal for a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and four West Bank settlements as a substitute for the "road map".
Although welcomed by the international community, his plan was not generally accepted as an alternative because there was no Palestinian input.
When Mr Abbas was elected president last month after the death of Yasser Arafat, Mr Bush appeared ready to re-engage in peacemaking and predicted that a Palestinian state could be established by 2008.
His new Secretary of State, Dr Condoleezza Rice, will hold discussions with the principals this weekend and will attend the summit to demonstrate US commitment to the peace process.
Analysts welcome the encounter but express doubts about the possibility of meaningful Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. For this to happen, they say, Israel must halt settlement activity, seen by Palestinians as a drive to pre-empt negotiations on territory and fix borders.
According to a report issued yesterday by the Israeli Peace Now movement, the Israeli government has not stopped settlement construction and expansion, a requirement of the "road map". Israel also continues to build the West Bank security barrier, judged illegal last July by the International Court of Justice at the Hague.
Instead of stopping this work, Mr Sharon has pledged to expand West Bank settlements in exchange for support for his Gaza evacuation plan.
However 13 renegade parliamentarians from his Likud party threatened to vote against the Gaza plan and joined the settler campaign against it, threatening Mr Sharon's grip on power.
Mr Abbas is also in a weak position.
If he is to impose a lasting ceasefire on militant groups, he must secure from Israel an end to raids and assassinations, the release of a substantial number of the 8,000 Palestinian prisoners, a pull-back from five West Bank Palestinian cities and towns, reduction of checkpoints, easing of restrictions on movement, resumption of economic activity, and progress on the "road map".
Mr Abbas has to achieve some of these demands before the July 17th Palestinian parliamentary election which, if he fails, could be won by the Islamist Hamas opposition instead of his Fatah movement.