The U.S.-Israel relationship is likely to get much worse before it gets any better. Both the Bush administration and the Shamir government, it seems, have added to the present erosion – only together could they prevent further damage from seriously undermining both the prospects for peace and their long alliance.

There are two words for peace in Arabic, "Salam," meaning a state of non-belligerency is currently preferred by Arabs over "Sulh", which suggests reconciliation – the kind of peace sought by Israelis. The difference between the two words is not mere semantics, it reflects the nature of the different objectives brought to the peace conference by Arabs and Israelis.