US Secretary of State Colin Powell is to meet today with the co-authors of a new initiative that is stirring revived interest in Israeli-Palestinian talks.
US President George W. Bush's decision to throw his weight behind Mr Powell's meeting with Israeli Yossi Beilin and Palestinian Yasser Abed Rabbo has added fuel to a rare public row between Israel and its chief ally, the United States.
Mr Bush said yesterday that the unofficial peace scheme - launched on Monday in Geneva - was productive, although he remained committed to the US-backed peace "road map".
The plan advanced by Mr Beilin, a former Israeli justice minister; former Palestinian minister Mr Rabbo and other moderates would have Israel hand over lands it occupied in the 1967 Middle East war, including Arab East Jerusalem, to Palestinians to set up a state alongside Israel.
It goes beyond the US-backed "road map" in mandating the evacuation of most Jewish settlements on occupied land and giving Israel the right to decide how many Palestinian refugees to take back.
US officials have not voiced outright support for the shadow plan out of deference to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, since opponents of Mr Sharon negotiated the agreement from the Israeli side.
Many Palestinians are also opposed to the plan as it does not facilitate the "right to return" - the return of millions of Palestinian refugees who fled or were expelled from Israel to its neighbours.