Middle East: Long Live the King!

He's not their king, but Israelis and Palestinians love him anyway. Jordan's King Hussein was welcomed home to the Middle East Tuesday like a parent returned to calm a fractious household. He has spent the past six months in the U.S. being treated for cancer, and signaled his renewed vigor by piloting his own plane home. "No one can match King Hussein's respect among both Israelis and Palestinians, and his role in the peace process was badly missed," says TIME West Bank correspondent Jamil Hamad. "He is one of the few Arab leaders who doesn't a different language with Israelis from the one he uses with Palestinians -- he tells them all to make concessions."

The peace process is on the back burner until Israel votes for a new government in June, although Hussein will spend time urging Yasser Arafat not to declare a Palestinian state before Israel's election. But Hussein's return was enough, Tuesday, to remind Israelis and Palestinians there are still things both can celebrate -- such as his longevity.