Angry Palestinian demonstrators in the West Bank yesterday burned an effigy of the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, propped up on the shoulders of Mr Dennis Ross. But inside the negotiating rooms the US peace envoy fared better, appearing to make some progress on the third day of his mid-east shuttle mission aimed at restoring Israeli-Palestinian security co-operation. Mr Ross, who had little joy on the first two days of his visit, sounded more encouraged last night after meeting with Mr Arafat, saying "we have a start". But he added with customary caution, "there's a lot of work to be done".
Emerging from an earlier meeting with Mr Netanyahu - his third since his arrival on Saturday - Mr Ross said that the US would now monitor Mr Arafat's efforts in quashing terror. "I think that we have a starting point on the security relationship," he said, "and we'll look to the concrete results, and we'll be watching."
Mr Netanyahu, however, complained yesterday that Mr Arafat had yet to take any major steps against Islamic militants. The Israeli leader reiterated his demand that Mr Arafat "fight terrorism . . . arrest the leaders, collect their guns, dismantle those bomb factories".
That it was still too early to judge the outcome of the US envoy's visit seemed to be about the only thing on which Israeli and Palestinian officials could agree. "So far, I think it's premature to jump to conclusions about the results of Mr Ross's mission," said the chief Palestinian negotiator, Mr Saeb Erekat. "You can't separate between any components of the peace process whether you are talking about security, or the land dimension or settlements."
Mr Ross, who has focused his efforts almost exclusively on the security issues, yesterday criticised the punitive measures imposed by Israel on the Palestinians after last month's suicide bombings in Jerusalem. Referring to economic sanctions, Mr Ross said "measures that don't relate clearly to security are measures that are not helpful and are counter-productive".
Hours after Mr Ross's remarks, Israel announced a further slight easing of some of the restrictions. But Israel's decision not to hand over vital tax revenues owed to the Palestinians remained in force. The money - $40 million, according to Palestinian officials, $22 million, say the Israelis - makes up a big portion of the Palestinian government's income.
Mr Ross, who has more meetings scheduled with both Mr Netanyahu and Mr Arafat before flying home today, is trying to renew security co-operation before a possible visit later this month by US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright. Mr Ross appears to be offering Mr Arafat a deal, even if it is an unspoken one: that real security co-operation with Israel will bring a new diplomatic initiative including a demand on Israel to halt - at least temporarily - construction of the housing project at Har Homa in east Jerusalem.
Peter Hirschberg is a senior writer at the Jerusalem Report