Israeli politics was utterly convulsed yesterday by the Wye River summit deal. There was no clear indication of whether the governing coalition would survive long in its current form. But at least until the last-minute hitch over his attempt to extract the release of American spy-for-Israel Jonathan Pollard, there was every sign that the accord will come to represent a tremendous personal boost to the Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu.
Hardline Jewish settler leaders and their allies in parliament castigated Mr Netanyahu for the Wye deal in terms only slightly milder than the accusations of treason that they had levelled at Yitzhak Rabin when he launched the Oslo process five years ago.
Left-wing Knesset members complained that Mr Netanyahu could have reached a similar agreement in the early months of 1997, and prevented the collapse of confidence between Israel and the Palestinians wrought by the past 18 months of deadlock.
But underpinning the wailing and complaining from these opposite ends of the political spectrum was an awareness that Mr Netanyahu could turn out to have outmanoeuvred them both. An opinion poll published in the Ma'ariv daily yesterday showed that an overwhelming 81 per cent of the Israeli public favours the continuation of the peace process with the Palestinians.
And for all the flaws that critics to the right and to the left will highlight in the new accord, Mr Netanyahu is eminently capable of presenting it as the best agreement it was possible to reach, a major step forward to regional peace, and one that offers far better guarantees than any other Israeli leader could have extracted from Yasser Arafat of protection for Israelis from Islamic extremist violence.
That rosy picture for Mr Netanyahu was badly stained, however, by his attempt to fly home from the United States not only with an accord but also with Jonathan Pollard, the Jewish naval analyst jailed 13 years ago for spying for Israel.
There was frank bafflement in Israel that the signing of the peace deal with the Palestinians had been delayed by a row with the Americans over the fate of a jailed spy.
With the Pollard dispute set aside to allow for yesterday's signing ceremony, it seemed as if some of the ministerial sceptics, who had been threatening to vote down the deal when the Prime Minister presents it to the cabinet, were coming around to support him.
Mr Silvan Shalom, the science minister, though stressing that he wanted to examine the document in depth, spoke of Mr Netanyahu's "considerable achievements".
For the Prime Minister now, it would seem that all options are open. Right-wing Knesset members will begin work as early as Monday on legislation to dissolve the Knesset. But that need be of no particular concern to Mr Netanyahu.
Indeed, he might decide to go along with them, or pre-empt them by calling elections himself. Or he might block them by inviting the Labour opposition to join him in a unity government.
Whichever course he chooses, he can rely on a major popularity boost as a consequence of this deal, at a time when a mooted new centrist party has yet to materialise and Labour's leader, Mr Ehud Barak, is making no impact.
In short, the Prime Minister has nothing to fear from new elections, and his hold on power looks secure, whatever the ultimate constellation of political forces behind him.
The wider regional interest could lie in the "unity government" scenario, a short-term coalition dominated by Mr Netanyahu's Likud and Mr Barak's Labour, and supported by a strong majority of Israelis.
Such a coalition would be well equipped to steer a course to the "final status" deal, the culmination of the Oslo process, the permanent settlement to which the Wye summit interim deal has reopened a path.
For all the euphoria this weekend, for all the relief in the Clinton administration at the personal success for the President, for all the relief in the Middle East that the summit did not end in chaos and disagreement, the hardest problems are only now to be tackled.
Mr Netanyahu and Mr Arafat must try to hammer out an agreement that meets the Palestinians' desire for full, independent statehood, without threatening Israel's security.
These two leaders may not be the ideal personalities to conduct such negotiations. But it is to them that the task now falls, and the Wye summit does offer at least some hope of them conquering their mutual mistrust and misgivings.
The summit also demonstrates how crucial a role the Americans have to play if there is to be any further progress, and how foolish Mr Netanyahu was to antagonise Mr Clinton yesterday over Pollard. The stalemate of the past year-and-a-half is ample evidence that, left to their own devices, the Israelis and the Palestinians can agree on nothing of substance.
Euphoric after the deal on an Israeli withdrawal from parts of Hebron was signed in 1997, the Americans allowed the momentum to trickle away.