THE Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, brought a joint session of Congress to its feet in prolonged applause when he pledged that Israel would never again allow Jerusalem to be divided.
In an address interrupted 14 times for applause, the new Israeli leader also warned that "time is running out" for preventing Iran and Iraq from acquiring nuclear weapons.
He also struck an uncompromising note on Jewish settlements on the West Bank, or Judaea and Samaria as he called it. Jews had the "right to live anywhere in the land", he said.
Mr Netanyahu emphasised that, while Israel was seeking peace with its neighbours, it would have to be a "peace for all time" or it would not be worthwhile. His strong condemnation of terrorist attacks drew loud applause from the assembled senators and representatives still angry over the bombing at a Saudi Arabian base which killed 19 US servicemen and injured many more.
A lasting peace in the Middle East would have to be built on three pillars, he said. These were security, reciprocity and respect for democracy and human rights. But Mr Netanyahu said that Israel was willing to negotiate with non-democratic regimes.
He also promised to phase out gradually US economic aid to Israel which runs now at $1.2 billion and to turn Israel into a modern, free-trade, deregulated economy. He flattered his audience by repeating the aim of the Speaker, Mr Newt Gingrich, and even President Clinton, that the era of big government is over
But there is no indication that US military aid at $1.5 billion a year is going to be reduced. Mr Clinton has promised to provide a permanent early warning system to protect Israeli cities.
Mr Netanyahu made it clear how much Israel feared a potential nuclear threat from Iran and Iraq. If these "despotic" regimes were to acquire nuclear weapons "this could presage catastrophic consequences not only for my country and not only for the Middle East but for all mankind," he warned.
On Jerusalem, Mr Netanyahu recalled how he grew up there when it was a divided city until it came under Israeli control in the 1967 war. Israel would "never" allow the city to be divided again between Arabs and Jews.
The burst of applause from the joint session reflected Congress's previous legislation mandating the transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. But Mr Clinton is in the embarrassing position of having first promised in his electoral campaign to recognise Jerusalem as the capital and later saying that its status would have to be settled in negotiations.
While there is no sign that Mr Netanyahu is ready to adopt more conciliatory stances urged by the US concerning Left Bank settlements, Hebron occupation and the Golan Heights, both US and Israeli officials said that the talks had been positive.
Mr Netanyahu is said to have assured Mr Clinton privately that he will honour the commitment made by his Labour predecessors to pursue a final political settlement with the Palestinian Authority.
At the same time, the Israeli leader when pressed about meeting the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mr Yasser Arafat, was evasive.