The unthinkable happened yesterday in the West Bank. Israel's right-wing government, led by a man who came to power ridiculing the notion of a working partnership with the Palestinian leader, Mr Yasser Arafat, handed over control to Mr Arafat of a substantive swathe of territory.
Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, who relentlessly criticised the Labour governments of 1992 to 1996 for relinquishing land in "Judea and Samaria" in return for Mr Arafat's promises to thwart Islamic extremists, yesterday did precisely the same thing. And in the process, of course, he helped the Palestinians move one step closer to the independent statehood he has always said he opposes.
Throughout yesterday, in the northernmost area of the West Bank, Israeli army trucks unloaded concrete blocks, one-metre square, and placed them along the new demarcation lines between Israeli and Palestinian-controlled territory. At the unloading points, Israeli and Palestinian officers checked closely against the newly-re-drawn maps, to ensure that no one was getting so much as a sliver of the other side's land.
Then came the new road-signs for the day's new reality, white lettering on deepest red advising motorists of the traffic regulations in what had just become Palestinian territory.
The handover, naturally, did not pass completely without a hitch. But the one hold-up, over some last-minute Israeli adjustments to the maps, proved insignificant. The Israeli and Palestinian field commanders consulted Mr Arafat, and the problem was solved.
Mr Arafat, savouring this first new acquisition of territory in almost two years, came out to tell the media that the withdrawal was being completed as agreed, and to express the hope that two further West Bank withdrawals, to which Israel is committed under last month's Wye accord, would proceed as smoothly in the next 2 1/2 months.
When the new zones of authority were marked out, and Mr Arafat was formally in full control of another 7 per cent of the West Bank, and partial control of 2 per cent more - some 200 sq miles in all - his policemen set about signalling their presence.
With sirens blaring, they drove through the centre of Qabatiyah, one of the larger towns newly handed over, in a procession of blue jeeps, firing their rifles into the air, cheered on by locals waving Palestinian flags and brandishing banners proclaiming, "Today Qabatiyah, tomorrow Jerusalem".
Another benefit of the deal: 250 Palestinians were released from Israel's jails, most of them car thieves and other common criminals, but several dozen "security" prisoners as well. The Palestinians had wanted all 250 to be "security" prisoners. But another 500 releases are scheduled as the Wye deal unfolds.
At Ganim and Kadim, the two settlements bordering Jenin that are most directly affected by the Israeli pullback, more and more of the 90-odd families are starting to talk about leaving, to inquire about compensation.
The settlements are idyllic - large red-roofed homes set in unusually lush countryside. But when, at an emergency meeting this week, a Jewish Settlement Council leader came to assure them that theirs and all other settlements "will be here for ever", there were wan smiles of disbelief in the audience.
If, as scheduled, Mr Netanyahu visits these settlements on Monday, he will not find hardcore Orthodox settlers castigating him for trading land for peace, but Israelis who sought a better quality of life demanding that he now provide it for them inside sovereign Israel.