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The most obvious way out of the conundrum is to skip over the contradictions of the interim phase and move directly to negotiations on a final settlement, which are supposed to begin in little more than a year. That idea is under consideration by Rabin's government. Israel would seek to inflate its borders to include many of the settlements and would probably offer the Palestinians full statehood in the remnants. Sa'eb Erakat, Arafat's minister of local government, says the Palestinians are ready to move straight to a final resolution. The P.L.O. will insist on nothing less than the Gaza Strip and the entire West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which it hopes to make the Palestinian capital.
Establishing final borders and resolving the question of Jerusalem, which Israel wants to keep united and under its control, are easier said than done. But so is completing the half-measure interim agreement that is meant to be temporary in any event. These two parties are ready for a divorce. The longer they stay together in a strained union, it seems, the tougher it is to agree on terms.
--With reporting by Dean Fischer/ Cairo, Jamil Hamad/Hebron and J.F.O. McAllister/ Washington