With all of the limitations that the U.S. presidential schedule places on the Middle East peace process, the opportunity created by the rare combination of Bush, Olmert and Abbas must not be missed. All three want to reach an agreement that will present the outline for a Palestinian state and an end to the Israeli occupation in the territories. …
At the Annapolis summit the three undertook to make the greatest effort possible to achieve an agreement by the end of the current year. In Jerusalem… Bush reiterated that this goal is attainable. The parties have sufficient time at their disposal to formulate agreed solutions to the "core issues" and the practical problems on which there is disagreement. …
The experience from the last several years teaches that Olmert and Abbas need more than goodwill - they need all the support from the president of the United States that they can muster in order to make progress. Bush’s visit to the region extricated the negotiations from the mud in which they sank after Annapolis and pushed the parties into starting talks on the core issues. For these talks to move forward and turn into an agreement, they will need careful shepherding by the United States. …
In Wednesday’s press conference at the Prime Minister’s residence Bush spoke, perhaps slightly in jest, about "nudging them forward," calling his trip here "a pretty significant nudge." The president clearly understands his critical, irreplaceable role in advancing the peace process. The year remaining to him in the White House is the right time to realize that responsibility and to rescue the two-state solution. It must not be viewed as time that is lost from the get-go. Access the full article>>