But some Israelis think Mr Barak might do well to submit a comprehensive peace package, made up of accords with Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians, to a single referendum.

ECONOMIST: Israelis who say no to peace with Syria

He won the Nobel Peace Prize for signing the 1993 Oslo Accords, formalizing relations with Israel and creating a nascent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

FORBES: Yasir Arafat Dies

Finally, the United States is in the process of negotiating a series of arms control accords with the Soviet Union.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center for Security Policy | Submitted Testimony by Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. on The Application Of National Security Export Controls To The East Bloc

It "shows a greater sensitivity and humanity than expected and also accords with public sentiment, " says legislator and lawyer Simon Tay.

CNN: Showing 'Greater Humanity'

But if such drastically opposing conclusions can be drawn simply by shuffling the figures a different way, it is surely best to believe the outcome that most accords with common sense.

ECONOMIST: Airline alliances

In one incident, officials in the Carter administration discovered the prince had deliberately mistranslated an important letter from the then Saudi ruler, King Fahd, to President Sadat of Egypt, to make it sound more conciliatory. (This was at a time when Sadat was being vilified in the Arab world for signing the Camp David peace accords with Israel.) Freelancing seemed to come naturally to the prince.

ECONOMIST: Prince Bandar bin Sultan was an envoy like no other