The Israeli cabinet was meeting last night in stormy session as the implications of the new Wye Summit peace deal were finally made clear to ministers.
It is likely that the cabinet will eventually give its approval to the deal, signed a fortnight ago in Washington. However, minister after minister emerged from the marathon session to give radio and TV interviews hugely critical of the accord, under which Israel is to withdraw over the next three months from another 13 per cent of the occupied West Bank.
For the first time yesterday, ministers were shown maps of the West Bank, setting out which new areas are to be handed over to Palestinian Authority control. Some 20 West Bank settlements will effectively become islands of Israeli control in sectors of Palestinian rule, and it is this perceived near-abandonment of some settlements which prompted much of the criticism.
In contrast to the previous Labour-led governments, the Likud-led coalition of the Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, is deeply reluctant to relinquish any parts of the occupied West Bank and now that the time has come for it to authorise a further withdrawal, ministers are reluctant to give consent.
As anticipated, it is ministers closest to the Jewish settlers who are putting up the strongest resistance, with one of them telling the Foreign Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, that he had "let Israel down" in the negotiations at the Wye River Summit.
Yesterday's meeting was called after the US administration, which brokered the deal, intervened to overcome a problem over the fate of 30 Palestinians whom Israel accuses of involvement in terrorism. Mr Netanyahu had demanded that a timetable for arresting the 30 be presented by the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat.
The Palestinians, with US endorsement, rejected this but the US State Department instead issued a letter of guarantee to Mr Netanyahu, confirming that the 30 would be taken into Palestinian custody. Palestinian officials say more than 12 of the 30 are already in jail.
Two obstacles are already looming, however. First, there are deep differences between Israel and the Palestinians over a clause in the deal providing for a public annulment by the Palestinian leadership of anti-Israeli clauses in the PLO covenant. And second, Mr Netanyahu is allowing settler leaders to see the withdrawal maps so that they can make suggestions for adjustment - a process which is bound to be complex and time consuming.
Meanwhile, Mr Sharon, until recently Mr Netanyahu's most potent critic, has now become the strongest champion of the new deal and is even reported to have drawn up a moderate blueprint for a final peace accord with the Palestinians.