For what was supposed to be a new era for the Middle East, the recent rituals have been all too familiar. As the deadline for another peace agreement approached, negotiations ground to a halt. The Israeli prime minister dug in his heels as his Palestinian counterpart made last-minute demands and shifted ground. U.S. pressure brought the two sides together, but the agreement was threatened almost immediately by terrorists. Worse, the agreement itself is little different from the Wye River accord grudgingly accepted by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year.

History is not repeating itself as farce in the Middle East, however. Real changes have taken place. Still, the temptation to revert to old habits will have to be fought tooth and nail as Arabs and Israelis work to establish an enduring peace.

The agreement signed earlier this week, dubbed "Wye 2," builds on its predecessor. Under its provisions, Israel will release 350 political prisoners in two phases and turn over another 11 percent of land in the West Bank, eventually giving the Palestinian Authority control of 40 percent of the territory. As a sweetener, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has promised to turn over "quality" land, plots that would be more contiguous and more arable than those originally offered.