That was a big change, since the Palestinian Covenant explicitly rejected the partition resolution and the Jewish state it created.

The next and final operative sentence reads: "The Palestine National Council authorizes the legal committee to redraft the Palestinian Covenant, which shall be placed before the Central Committee at its first meeting."

In exchange, the Palestinians were to clamp down on terrorism and incitement, confiscate illegal weapons, reduce their police force and "reaffirm" the elimination from the Palestinian Covenant of clauses calling for Israel's destruction.

Consequently, the P.L.O. undertakes to submit to the Palestinian National Council for formal approval the necessary changes in regard to the Palestinian Covenant.

Yesterday he asserted in a letter to President Clinton that the death-to-Israel articles of the Palestinian Covenant were annulled in April 1996.

Palestinian Covenant and Its Meaning.

The situation is made worse by the recent publication of a new Fatah Constitution that goes beyond the Palestinian Covenant in calling for the destruction of Israel.

Oslo provided for the removal of clauses in the Palestinian Covenant objectionable to the Israelis.

These include Palestinian crackdowns on incitement to violence, unequivocal abrogation of the Palestinian Covenant and a range of security undertakings.

It is the heart of the Palestinian Covenant that Yasir Arafat has made a career of promising to tear up.