Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s approval rating has sunk to an all-time low. A new Maariv newspaper poll found that only 33 percent of Israelis are satisfied with his performance as prime minister, compared with 59 percent who are not.

Sharon’s popularity began to slip after the collapse in August of the cease-fire that Palestinian factions had declared in June. Renewed attempts by Palestinian faction leaders to agree a new truce in Cairo came to nothing yesterday. But there is no doubt that there is a considerable undercurrent pulling both sides toward a settlement — as the present plethora of peace plans and initiatives shows.

The most important is the Geneva Accord, signed last week to much official fanfare despite being unofficial.

Following on behind comes the Israeli opposition Labor Party with its own “peace plan” that mirrors Geneva in outline while differing in detail. Then there is the Ayalon-Nusseibeh petition, reportedly with thousands of signatures from Palestinians and Israelis alike. The Shinui Party, a partner in the ruling coalition, likewise announced a platform that contained “a new vision for a settlement.”

Nor is the phenomenon confined to spontaneous contributions on the part of Palestinians or Israelis. Third parties have entered the fray, arranging a series of “seminars” — the sobriquet for a special kind of negotiating process bringing together Palestinian and Israeli officials or people close to decision-making circles. Of this ilk were the “Rabin Peace Forum” near Oxford and another forum in Madrid, the focus of which was the possibility of sending international observers or peace-keeping forces to Palestine.

To this frenzy of activity we can add America’s envoy to the peace process, William Burns, in the region for the first time in months; the preparations under way for a meeting between the Palestinian and Israeli prime ministers; and Ahmed Qorei’s recent indirect message to President Bush.

Peace saboteur Sharon has been forced to face down all of these proposals with an ill-defined initiative of his own. First, he says, he will seek to revive the road map by talking to Qorei. To increase the chances of such talks bearing fruit, he has dropped his precondition that the PA’s security forces engage in “a real war” against militants. Sharon has also hinted he may close a few Jewish settlements. But as always he is hard put to produce a solution that would be remotely acceptable to any Palestinian.

The undercurrent is there, and it is gaining strength. But whether it will be able to sweep both sides toward a lasting settlement, avoiding the boulders of resistance posed by Sharon and the hard-liners on both sides, remains to be seen.