But the threat of violence was always kept in reserve. Indeed, it escalated. Arafat now had at his disposal not just kids with rocks but 40,000 men with guns. The P.L.O., said an official just last week, expects its planned unilateral declaration of independence to create a confrontation with Israel. An agreement at Camp David in which the Palestinians renew their renunciation of violence would be as meaningless as the one in '93.
Violence is the one means they have to redress their grievances.
Ehud Barak is prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to do just that. Yet Arafat resisted the summit precisely because he resists finality. His strategy has always been to keep the conflict open. Because when the conflict ends, his people must be satisfied with half a loaf. And while Israeli leaders have long prepared their people for serious concessions, Arafat has not.