ALL TOGETHER NOW

By Bruce W. Nelan

At nightfall in the marble palace of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, an unusual gathering of Middle Eastern leaders sat down for iftar, the meal that breaks the daylong Muslim fast during the holy month of Ramadan. It is traditionally shared with family and close friends, but at Mubarak's side were not only Jordan's King Hussein and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat, but Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as well. His inclusion was meant to show a new level of acceptance for Israel among the Arab leaders who have signed formal peace agreements with the country.

What really brought the four together, however, was a sense of desperation. Something was needed, as Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa put it, ``to save the peace process from collapse.'' If all that was required were the serious talk and earnest pledges of the summiteers, a comprehensive peace in the Middle East would be at hand. But after five hours of discussion, Moussa emerged to read out a predictable communique. It mainly restated their commitment to peace and condemned ``all the outbreaks of bloodshed, terror and violence'' that have brought the negotiations almost to a halt. The one visible new agreement was to keep on talking.

Some officials on both sides said they were encouraged by the procedural push. This week Israel and the Palestinians are to reopen their talks in Cairo, while Arafat and Rabin are to meet at a border crossing on the Gaza Strip. Then on Feb. 12, the summit group's foreign ministers will convene in Washington to move ahead on economic and security measures.

Senior Arab officials believe the summit displayed the parties' solidarity and bolstered rather than pressured Rabin. These officials realize the Israeli leader needs help standing up to his own voters, who are increasingly unwilling to make deals with the Palestinians while Islamic terrorists continue to send suicide bombers to blow up Israelis.

In Jerusalem, Yossi Beilin, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister, also insisted that the summit would have a positive impact. It showed, he said, that ``a bloc is being created for peace.'' But for most Israelis, the talkfest in Cairo changed nothing. The main issue is whether the Islamic terrorist campaigns will be halted.

The negotiations are caught in a vicious circle. For the Palestinians, the key issue is what was promised in the 1993 accord: moving Israeli troops out of West Bank towns and opening the way for Palestinian elections. Arafat told Rabin that his mandate must be extended throughout the territories. But Rabin is in no mood to withdraw the army from areas where Israeli settlers need protection.

Palestinians have little patience with Israeli hesitancy. Many were irate that the meeting made no mention of the growing Israeli settlements--one was authorized in East Jerusalem last week--that they consider violate the spirit of the agreement.

The region's political leaders are publicly displaying their faith in the process, but they know their best efforts can be undercut at any time by another incident like the bombing that killed 21 Israelis last month. After reading the Cairo summit's communique last week, a West Bank member of the radical Islamic Jihad warned, ``We are the ones who decide when to attack Israeli targets--not Arafat, not Rabin, not Hussein, not Mubarak.'' Unfortunately, that is all too true.

--Reported by Dean Fischer/Cairo, Jamil Hamad and Eric Silver/Jerusalem

With reporting by DEAN FISCHER/CAIRO, JAMIL HAMAD AND ERIC SILVER/JERUSALEM