WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. officials scrambled to salvage some of the months of effort devoted to pursuing peace between Israel and the Palestinians after Israel struck Palestinian targets in the West Bank and Gaza on Thursday.
"Now is the time to stop the bloodshed, to restore calm, to return to dialogue and, ultimately, to the negotiating table," President Clinton said in brief remarks Thursday afternoon. "The alternative to the peace process is now no longer merely hypothetical. It is unfolding today before our very eyes."
Israeli helicopter gunships blasted Palestinian Authority facilities in the region in retaliation for the deaths of at least two Israeli soldiers at the hands of a Palestinian mob in the West Bank town of Ramallah early Thursday.
Clinton condemned the killings of the Israeli soldiers, saying, "While I understand the anguish Palestinians feel over the losses they have suffered, there can be no possible justification for mob violence."
Clinton has made a settlement of the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian dispute a top U.S. priority. But after two weeks of rioting in the Palestinian-run territories that has claimed more than 90 lives, months of negotiations between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat were in danger of utter collapse Thursday.
U.S. Secretary of State Albright warned both Israeli and Palestinian leaders that "the future of the Middle East must be decided at the negotiating table, not in the streets."
She said, "Neither Israelis nor Palestinians can gain from further killing. Both gain from the silencing of guns and cooling of tempers and a resumption of serious and constructive talks."
The attacks came the same day that five U.S. sailors died in what the Pentagon said appeared to be a suicide attack on the destroyer USS Cole, which had put into the Yemeni port of Aden for refueling.
CIA chief's mission on hold
Clinton huddled with his national security team Thursday afternoon and spoke by telephone with Arafat, Barak, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah.
Earlier, the president returned to the White House from his home in Chappaqua, New York, where he had been celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary with first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. Vice President Al Gore, who is seeking the presidency in November's election, cut short his campaign schedule to return to Washington as well.
Clinton also discussed the crises with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who was in the region for meetings with Arafat, Barak and others. The president canceled plans to attend Democratic party fund-raisers in the Washington area.
Meanwhile, a meeting between CIA Director George Tenet and Arafat was called off on Thursday as Arafat received warnings of an attack, officials in Washington and Gaza said.
Tenet is in the region trying to convince Israeli and Palestinian security forces to resume cooperation with each other. U.S. officials say he remains in the region and is safe, but they disclosed few details.
Tenet has been trying to bring Palestinian and Israeli officials together in an effort to end the rioting.
First lady jeered at New York rally
Meanwhile, a demonstration in support of Israel drew thousands of supporters into the streets of New York, down the street from the United Nations.
The rally, sponsored by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, was intended "to demonstrate their solidarity with the people of Israel," said Malcolm Hoenlein, the president of the group.
Both the first lady, who is running for the U.S. Senate from New York, and her opponent, Long Island congressman Rick Lazio, appeared at the rally.
Several in the crowd heckled Hillary Clinton, yelling, "Tell your husband!" when she renewed her call on Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat "to do everything in his power to end the violence and enter into a cease-fire." Hillary Clinton recently broke with administration policy, saying the United States should have vetoed a U.N. Security Council vote last week that criticized Israel.
Lazio was warmly welcomed at the rally as he called on the Clinton administration to step up its support for Israel in the crisis.
"Today, America and this administration leaves Israel in the lurch," Lazio said. "I ask President Clinton: Is this any way to treat a friend?"
A demonstration co-sponsored by the New York-New Jersey Committee of the Palestine Right to Return Coalition was scheduled to take place in the same area Friday. Organizers said they expect at least 20,000 people to attend the Palestinian rally.
![[CNN Money]](http://i.cnn.net/cnn/images/main/fn.logo.newsnet.gif){kind=logo}
![[SI.com]](http://i.cnn.net/cnn/images/main/si.logo.gif){kind=logo}
(
