Reviving a long-dormant US peacemaking role, Secretary of State Colin Powell won an Israeli pledge yesterday to allow Palestinians greater freedom of movement to hold an election for Yasser Arafat's successor.
Mr Powell, on his first visit to the region in 18 months, told Israeli and Palestinian leaders that Washington was determined to seize opportunities created by Mr Arafat's death and help Palestinians hold a January 9 vote to choose a new president.
But the top US diplomat, who announced his resignation last week and is now seen by both sides as a lame duck with little policy-making clout, made only limited progress in a day of high-level talks.
All he appeared to gain from Israel was a promise to loosen restrictions on Palestinians' travel to permit them to campaign and cast ballots, effectively easing Israel's military grip on the West Bank.
"We'll do everything we can in order to remove any obstacles that they might face in their preparations to have their elections," Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said.
But Israel stopped short of any commitment to pull back forces in and around West Bank cities in the run-up to the vote, as the Palestinians have demanded.
A senior State Department official acknowledged Israel did not outline how it would carry out its pledge and said it was up to the Israelis and Palestinians to hammer out the details.
Palestinians were sceptical. "We do not trust these Israeli declarations," said senior Palestine Liberation Organisation official Yasser Abed Rabbo.
Mr Powell's mission was intended to give substance to President George W. Bush's pledge for a new push for peace while Palestinians prepare to replace Mr Arafat, who died on November 11. Washington had shunned Mr Arafat as an "obstacle to peace".
"This is a moment of opportunity," Mr Powell told reporters in Jerusalem where he met Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
His visit was part of a flurry of renewed international diplomacy focused on returning Israelis and the Palestinians to the negotiating table after four years of bloodshed. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was due in for talks tomorrow.
The Bush administration has been criticised for making only sporadic attempts to bring Israel and the Palestinians together. Many Arabs accuse the Jewish state's top ally of applying too little pressure on Israel.
While urging Israel to give the Palestinians breathing space to hold their first presidential vote since 1996, Mr Powell called on the new Palestinian leadership "to speak out clearly against terrorism... and stop all violence".
Washington and Israel hope a moderate will replace Mr Arafat, but whoever wins will have to contend with militants vowing to keep fighting against Israel.
Meeting the Palestinians in Jericho, Mr Powell heard their complaints about Israeli army raids and settlement building and praised their handling of the post-Arafat transition.
But when asked whether Washington supported the creation of a Palestinian state by the end of next year as promised by a violence-stalled "road map" to peace, he declined to make a commitment.
"The answer to that question can only be determined by what happens on the ground," he told reporters in comments certain to anger Palestinians.
Mr Powell did not announce any direct US aid for the Palestinians during his trip after pro-Israel lawmakers back home scuttled his plans for such a gesture.
Mr Shalom said it was in Israel's interest for the elections to go forward and promised to allow the Palestinians "freedom of movement" to carry them out.
But his pledge was short on specifics. "We'll look to the two sides to work out the details, including the kind of 'freedom of movement' things like checkpoints and troop pullbacks," said the US official who asked not to be named.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie and Palestine Liberation Organisation chief Mahmoud Abbas, who is tipped as Mr Arafat's likely successor, urged Mr Powell to help bring about an Israeli redeployment away from West Bank population centres.
But Mr Sharon later cast doubt on any broader withdrawal, telling lawmakers there was "still a danger of terrorism." Still, he was quoted as saying troops would not patrol cities or near polling stations on election day itself.
Israel says its network of army roadblocks and checkpoints is needed to stop Palestinian suicide bombers from entering the Jewish state. Palestinians call it collective punishment.