The crucial Middle East peace summit, hosted by the US President, Bill Clinton, has begun at Camp David, near Washington. Mr Clinton, the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, and the President of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat, will try to square contradictory demands on land, autonomy and the status of Jerusalem, if there is to be any chance of a final peace settlement by a previously agreed September deadline.
Yesterday, Mr Barak narrowly survived a no-confidence vote in the Knesset engineered by opponents who believe he may make too many concessions. The Palestinians, on the other hand, have threatened to declare an independent Palestinian state, regardless of whether the deadline is met. Mr Clinton, who leaves office at the end of the year, called for a principled compromise. Mr Barak said that painful compromises would have to be taken by both sides if an agreement was to be reached.
