MESERVE: A critical meeting is scheduled tomorrow between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in Egypt. If both sides ultimately accept a U.S. outline for peace, there's talk of more meetings in Washington next week. CNN White House correspondent Major Garrett joins us now with more on President Clinton's role. Major, tell us about that.</s>MAJOR GARRETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jeanne, it really is a crucial meeting tomorrow in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, and there is a possibility that Mr. Arafat and Mr. Barak could actually sit down and talk to one another. You will recall in October, when they were there for an emergency peace summit called by President Clinton and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the two men would not even sit down together. And when they were in the same room, merely glared at one another. Clearly, the atmospherics very much different. What the U.S. hopes will happen at that meeting tomorrow is that the President Mubarak will give the go ahead from the Arab world to Mr. Arafat to continue talks about this outline for peace Mr. Clinton has established. U.S. officials are very optimistic that that go ahead, in fact, will be given, and that Mr. Arafat and Mr. Barak will tell the president they are willing to participate in further discussions. If that happens, the president will invite them here to Washington, meet with him separately. White House officials tell CNN, the first meeting could occur as early as Friday; the next, probably some time early next week. At those meetings, the president will then decide whether or not the two men and himself would sit down for a summit, a Camp David-style summit, to sort of reenact what happened in July, except this time the expectation would be that all sides would come together, a final peace deal may be hammered out, and something could in fact be signed before the president leaves office on January 20th. A long sequence of events, but there is some quiet optimism here at the White House -- Jeanne.</s>MESERVE: Major Garrett, at the White House, thank you.
Crisis in the Middle East: White House Quietly Optimistic Over Possible Peace Deal