The massacre of at least 30 Palestinians in the Tomb of the Patriarchs during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan evoked a deep revulsion and a profound sense of vulnerability that explains the Palestinians' heightened rage and explosive rancor.

Since its capture by Israel in 1967, the Golan Heights has come to symbolize for both Israel and Syria more than an important strategic territory.

A strong Israeli public consensus in support of withdrawal from the Golan Heights is critical to any Israeli-Syrian agreement. That consensus is currently lacking. Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin must work separately and together to sway Israeli public opinion in that direction.

The question that troubles many Jordanian nationalists is whether or not the emergence of a Palestinian state resulting from the Israeli-Palestine Liberation Organization agreement will mean the beginning of the end of Hashemite rule in Jordan.

The people of the Middle East, Jews and Arabs alike, will remember 1993 as a historic turning point in their long, agonizing struggle. The year 1994 will test the limits of Israeli and Arab perseverance and challenge the leaders to advance creative solutions that defy rejectionism and fanaticism. This year holds both the prospect for great new achievements and the potential for disastrous failure.

A TOP Syrian official actively involved in Middle East peace negotiations told me that, following United States Secretary of State Warren Christopher's visits to the area in early August, Syria and Israel were almost ready to conclude a declaration of principles leading to an agreement. It was a two-part document: First, a declaration of principles – "Full withdrawal for full peace" – that would have obligated Israel to give up all of the Golan, and Syria to offer a comprehensive peace in return. And second, an agenda for negotiating the comprehensive peace, including establishment of several committees that would deal with mutual security, military issues, the settlements, and peaceful relations.

PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat's belated condemnation of the slaying of Beit El resident Haim Mizrahi by members of his own Fatah faction was hardly reassuring. For many Israelis, such episodes offer a preview of what can be expected from an unreliable partner to the peace process.

Following weeks of accusing Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of trying to make peace with charlatans who will do anything to gain their "real" objective, the eventual destruction of Israel, Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu finally has come up with a plan of his own.

Frustrated by the Israeli-PLO agreement, Syria's President Hafez al-Assad is trying to reposition himself in his negotiations with Israel to regain control over the Golan Heights.