Trust can return

Violence threatens to overwhelm diplomacy in the Middle East because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have undermined what held the peace together.

Trust can be restored, but it will call for efforts on the part of Mr. Netanyahu, Mr. Arafat and President Bill Clinton.

President Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright cannot magically produce trust between Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Arafat, or impose an agreement in it's absence.

But Washington has great influence with both leaders that has not been fully exercised.

Mr. Netanyahu can be combative and difficult, as he made clear at a testy news conference in Washington. It cannot be easy for Mr. Clinton to jog him, but he must keep pressing him to take a more expansive approach to the peace effort and to be more forthcoming in his dealings with Mr. Arafat.

The Palestinian leader could use a firm reminder from Mr. Clinton that violence will destroy the peace and that anything short of a sustained campaign to prevent terrorism is insufficient.

Only steps like these can overcome the mistrust that now threatens the peace.

-- The New York Times