31.   But about China, Israeli leaders reject it.

32.   But Arafat seemed simultaneously to be attempting to bait the Israeli leader and to control his own emotions toward Sharon.

33.   But in those heady early days, Israeli leaders vowed to persevere and told Yasser Arafat and his Palestine Liberation Organization that Hamas was their common foe.

34.   But in return for that extraordinary access, Safire is clearly serving as an unabashed propaganda outlet for the hard-line Israeli leader.

35.   But many Israelis believe that it is simplistic to hold Barak personally responsible or to imagine that any Israeli leader could have averted the violent explosion.

36.   But many American Jews believed that their religious beliefs were being rejected, creating a cultural tension that has led Israeli leaders take notice.

37.   But no Israeli leader is likely to agree to terms that mainstream Israeli opinion would automatically reject.

38.   But no major Israeli leader, in government or opposition, has publicly raised an objection or launched a debate.

39.   But the Americans, who generally agree with Mubarak, are in no rush to have a confrontation with the Israeli leader, Benjamin Netanyahu.

40.   But the Israeli leader will go to Washington with two security hawks, Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon and Trade Minister Natan Sharansky.