WILL THE NEW PATH WORK?

The Saudis will place pressure on Mr. Arafat to seize full control of the West Bank and Gaza, to tailor himself in the image of other Arab leaders. But the Israelis would have to cooperate, and so would the Americans. The Israelis would have to remove their settlements from the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza--or at least make that commitment and start the process.

Israel's love of others' land and water, and the intent of Iran and Syria to balance out Israeli power, will assure continued Arab public support for the Palestinians' effort to liberate their land one way or another. Of course, those liberators will be squeezed for a time by Arafat on the inside and the United States and its Arab allies on the outside.

In short, the Saudis will have their hands full. They have taken on the role of mediator between the United States on the one hand, and on the other the Arab public and the Palestinians. By extension, they've taken on the role of tamers of Israel's government. And they've tied their domestic legitimacy to that policy. Barring a change in Israel's government, the Saudis will be in for a nasty time. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is unlikely to cooperate. Having unleashed him, the Bush administration will be unable to control him fast. The U.S. will have to return to an old policy of supporting the Labor party, and probably indirectly finance it to help it re-take government. That's a long-term project, and the Arab and Saudi masses may not be patient.

But Saudi Arabia has other sources of Arab nationalist legitimacy: Iraq and Syria. And it could continue to be outspoken in its criticism of Israel while trying to work for some peace in Palestine. Will Abdallah end up limping the way others had been? Perhaps it's better if he doesn't place too much pressure on Arafat to encircle the liberators, and let Israel go back in, again and again, until it gets tired. In the meanwhile, he can continue on with the successful policy he has recently pursued: humanitarian aid, intervention with the Americans, protecting Iraq from invasion, and so on of Arab nationalist policies.

Too, he might want to think about opening a secret channel for talks with Israel's Labor Party and help finance it along with the Americans.