But Mr. Burns refused to single out the Israelis directly for creating such a "new issue" by opening the archeological tunnel that had been abandoned in 1988 after Palestinian protests then.

One much-talked-about recent segment was made after the opening of an archeological tunnel in late September touched off three days of shooting between Palestinians and Israelis, leaving scores dead.

There was no urgent need to open a new entrance to an archeological tunnel that runs alongside the holiest Muslim and Jewish religious sites in Jerusalem.

Surely there must be a face-saving way for both sides to resolve the problem of the archeological tunnel in Jerusalem that Israel resumed work on last week.

A 1997 work, "Murder," examined the Palestinian-Israeli violence that was sparked by Israel's 1996 opening of an archeological tunnel near Al Aksa Mosque in Jerusalem.

In September, the opening of a new tourist exit to an Israeli archeological tunnel near Muslim shrines in Jerusalem set off clashes that killed more than 70 people.

And he repeated that the second entrance to an archeological tunnel running alongside Al Aksa Mosque would stay open and not be a subject for negotiation.

Mr. Arafat took 36 hours to organize police-backed riots against the opening of a new door to an ancient archeological tunnel, Then he turned the armed riots on.

"In 1996, we had some Palestinians shooting at us" - after the Israeli government decided to open an entrance to an archeological tunnel beside a site holy to Jews and Muslims.

It is in those terms that Mr. Netanyahu's decision to open the new entrance to an archeological tunnel in Jerusalem has to be understood.