Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat faces a "decisive" 48 hours if he is to travel abroad to meet with US Vice President Dick Cheney and to the Arabi summit in Beirut beginning Wednesday, an Israeli government spokesman said on Saturday. "Given the time factor, the coming 48 hours will be decisive to test the will of Yasser Arafat to halt violence, which he has done nothing about up until now," Arieh Mekel said.

An Israeli green light for Arafat's travel abroad still depends on the Palestinian application of the so-called Tenet plan for a ceasefire in the conflict with Israel, Mekel said.

"Israel is completely in agreement with the US" on this point, he said. US President George W. Bush said on Friday that a meeting between Cheney and Arafat "could happen, if and when" the Palestinian leader quells violence against Israelis.

"A meeting could happen, if and when Chairman Arafat performs, does what he's supposed to do," Bush said, adding that he was relying on special US envoy Anthony Zinni's assessment of the situation from the region. Senior Israeli and Palestinian security officials ended a meeting hosted by Zinni on Friday without reaching a hoped-for truce, but agreed to talk again on Sunday. Bureau Report