Despite the tragic events in the Gaza Strip, the weaknesses of both Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the mess in Iraq and the problems with Iran, several factors in the current configuration suggest a possible window of opportunity for forward movement in the Israeli-Palestinian arena:

1) In Israel, Ehud Barak's election as leader of a revived Labor Party and his appointment as defense minister; the appointment of dovish, politically experienced Haim Ramon as vice premier; and Shimon Peres' election as a peace-oriented activist president create an opportunity for Olmert to carry out a peace-oriented policy, which could encompass significant steps forward, without which his political career is doomed.

2) The internal Palestinian tragedy creates a possibility for Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayad to demand of Israel and the international community significant measures to improve the situation in the West Bank, to serve as a model for a future solution which would include the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, based on the 1967 borders as well as mutual land swaps.

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3) The Arab Peace Initiative, which offers Israel recognition by and normalization with the 22 Arab League states in exchange for withdrawal to the Green Line, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel and an agreed-upon solution to the refugee problem, reflects the interest of Israel's Sunni neighbors in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and provides a regional framework for progress.

4) While former British prime minister Tony Blair may be compromised in the eyes of many because of his role in Iraq, he will want to leverage his position as a high-profile Middle East Quartet envoy to try to promote genuine progress, and not only remain within the limited mandate given to his predecessor, James Wolfensohn.

5) The recent speech by U.S. President George W. Bush calling for an international conference this autumn creates a framework for progress, provided that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice can gain the upper hand against the administration's neo-cons. Bush should be concerned with ensuring that the Iraqi quagmire will not be the only Middle Eastern factor attached to his legacy; and a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is clearly an American interest.

All of these factors require courage and decisiveness on the part of both the Israeli and the Palestinian leadership. They also call for active facilitation on the part of the international community's relevant representatives.

In the longer run, it should be clear that the fate of the Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem cannot remain divided. And Hamas apparently is and will remain an inherent part of the Palestinian body politic. However, Hamas will lose influence if it doesn't adjust to the fact that it is in the clear interest of the majority of the Palestinian people to lead a normal life in an independent sovereign state, which will need constructive, productive relations with Israel - provided that the Israeli leadership, with the help of the international community, has the foresight to use this window of opportunity to build a model for such a future relationship with at least part of the Palestinian people.

As one of our sages once said: If not now, then when?

Hillel Schenker is co-editor of the Palestine-Israel Journal.