In persuading the parties to attend the Madrid conference, the United States acted as a “manipulator” using carrots and sticks. Nevertheless, the parties’ eventual agreement to participate was reluctant, with low political willingness and low commitment to negotiate in good faith. Although at first the United States did not actively participate in the negotiations, it augmented its role as a “formulator” by initiating separate negotiations with the Israeli and the Palestinian delegations to draft new proposals. However, Nabil Shaath , who headed the coordination committee of the Palestinian delegation in Washington, describes the U.S. mediation role as a “nonstarter”. The Americans, he asserts, tried too hard to fit everything into their own formula rather than constructing a new one (1993: 6). Peres concurs, and adds that the United States became too occupied with its own declaration of principles (1993: 10). Moreover, the Palestinian delegation viewed the United States as being pro-Israeli in its proposals and its basic stance (Ashrawi 1995:199; Pundik1995).