The most to be hoped for is a cooling-off decade of separation and nonbelligerency.

It had not depended on America's status, whether of belligerency, nonbelligerency, or neutrality.

The issue here, he said, is whether the Syrian-Israeli talks produce "a real peace or a state of nonbelligerency."

Now, a nonbelligerency pact is needed for Israel and the Palestinians, followed by long-term peace talks.

In many respects, we have a situation of de facto nonbelligerency with the Kingdom of Jordan.

He told the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot, "I am for a nonbelligerency accord."

And they already dismiss Mr. Sharon's goal of a nonbelligerency accord - a long-term "diplomatic arrangement" - rather than a final peace agreement, he added.

When the Palestinian leader publicly and privately takes action to turn off terror, Israel's economic retaliation will end, allowing an interim state of nonbelligerency to be negotiated.

Or, could young adults be using the pacifiers to proclaim nonbelligerency, perhaps signaling something like "Look, I'm pacified, I'm peaceful, I'm harmless."

But it highlights Mr. Sharon's approach, which is to set sights on the more modest aim of a nonbelligerency agreement or a long-term interim arrangement with the Palestinians.

Mr. Sharon talks not about agreements but about "arrangements," and aspires to a nonbelligerency accord, casting the idea of a grand, idealistic peace into the indeterminate future.

Not surprisingly, Carranza's insistence on Mexican neutrality during the war was interpreted in the U.S. Congress as nonbelligerency on behalf of Germany.

They say they will not unilaterally abandon their resistance against Israeli occupation for the kind of talks that have failed them so far, especially given that Mr. Sharon does not aspire to a final settlement but rather a nonbelligerency accord.

Reverting to type, he took refuge in a narrow national pride, indicating that there is actually no chance for peace, that limited nonbelligerency is the great new hope, and displaying almost no room for compromise with either the Palestinians or Syria.

And if that were to happen, Israel's near-future goal would be a nonbelligerency pact to be followed by a very long period of nonbelligerency before the final status peace issues would even be considered, he said.

Similarly, the Administration is urging the Syrians at least to hint that the payoff for Israel if it returns the Golan Heights, with its commanding view of northern Israel and of Damascus, could be more than just nonbelligerency, but real peace.