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Bush focused on 'big picture' as Olmert begins US visit
2008-06-03
US President George W. Bush does not worry much about Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's future and remains focused on "the big picture" of Middle East peace, the White House said Tuesday, as the beleaguered Israeli leader began a three-day US visit. "Our focus hasn't been on that. I know that there has been a lot of attention, especially in the Israeli press and some international press, about Israeli politics," said spokeswoman Dana Perino. "But President Bush has to keep his focus on the big picture, and so he is not spending a lot of time worried about that, he is focused on how do we get the Palestinian state defined before the end of the year," said Perino. Bush and Olmert were due to meet Wednesday for talks that have yet to appear on the US president's publicly released schedule amid mounting calls for the prime minister to resign over corruption charges. "I think that our goal, for whenever an Israeli leader comes, is to, one, reaffirm out commitment to Israel," she said. The other key aim is "to push, especially now that we are in the middle of the negotiations with the Palestinians -- or, I should say, the Israelis are in the middle of the negotiations with the Palestinians -- on trying to define a state before the end of the year," said Perino. In a speech to the top US pro-Israel lobby group early Tuesday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said there was still a chance to reach such a deal, but dropped mention of a date. "We still believe we have a chance to reach an agreement on the basic contours of a peaceful Palestinian state. I know that this is ambitious," Rice told the annual policy conference of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). "But if we can pursue this goal by the end of the year, it will be an historic breakthrough." In the past, US officials have spoken of actually reaching a deal on the outlines of such a state by the end of the year, when Bush prepares to leave office. Rice said the goal she mentioned -- a deal on the contours of a Palestinian state -- would last into the next administration. "The goal itself, though, will endure beyond the current US leadership," she said. "I believe this administration's approach to this problem will and must endure." Olmert arrived in Washington early Tuesday for a visit seen by many as his farewell from Bush, and clouded by calls for his resignation over graft charges and criticism over Jewish settlement expansion. The embattled premier, who refused talk to reporters onboard his plane, was to meet Rice later Tuesday before making a keynote speech to the AIPAC meeting. The talks were expected to focus on the ongoing Middle East peace talks, which have made little progress since their relaunching in a US conference last November. The trip offers Olmert a brief respite from his woes back home, where two key cabinet allies are calling on him to quit over suspicions he unlawfully obtained vast sums of money from a US financier, which Olmert denies. He is also facing international criticism over Israel's latest plans to build a further 884 homes in two Jewish settlements in occupied east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians wish to make the capital of their future state. The White House criticised the plans on Monday saying "we don't believe that any more settlements should be built" because "it exacerbates the tensions when it comes to the negotiations with the Palestinians." The Israeli premier held a new meeting with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas just hours before his departure for Washington but it was overshadowed by Palestinian anger at the settlement expansion plans. Other than the Palestinian track, Olmert will also brief Bush on Israel's resumption of peace talks with Syria after an eight-year freeze, indirectly through Turkish mediators. The discussions will also evolve over efforts to thwart Iran's controversial nuclear programme, which Israel claims is aimed at developing an atomic bomb, possibly by the end of 2009, according to its intelligence services. Tehran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful use only. He was also expected to discuss a military aid package that Bush offered during his visit to Israel in May, including advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets and radar system, according to a senior official. During his visit, Olmert is also expected to meet US presidential hopefuls as well as Vice President Dick Cheney.
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