U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets Israeli and Palestinian leaders this weekend to craft a joint document ahead of a peace conference but she has intentionally set expectations low.
U.S. officials expect Rice's third visit in six weeks to the region will result in a document filled with general principles to kick off negotiations on a Palestinian state, but with few hard-core specifics. ...
Rice is due to arrive in Jerusalem late on Saturday after attending an Iraq conference in Turkey, where she is set to hold a string of bilateral meetings on her peace efforts. ...
On Sunday, Rice will address a conference in Jerusalem where she is expected to push both sides to make bold compromises and agree to meet commitments under a long-stalled 2003 "road map" peace plan, including a halt to Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and a Palestinian crackdown on militants.
The Bush administration is seeking to boost Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas militarily. Last week the White House asked the U.S. Congress for at least $410 million in additional funds in 2008 to build up Abbas' forces and ease the Palestinian Authority's financial woes.
U.S. officials say it is unlikely Rice will announce a date for the peace conference, set for Annapolis, Maryland, during this visit but invitations could be issued on her return from Israel and the West Bank. The most likely date for the meeting is the week of Nov. 26, say officials and diplomats.
Dennis Ross, who was Middle East envoy in the Clinton administration, said Rice appeared a long way from closing key differences between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. ...
Whatever documents are ultimately agreed before the Annapolis conference, experts say Rice would be foolhardy to ignore the spoiler role of Hamas, the militant group that beat Abbas' Fatah party in elections and now controls Gaza.
Daniel Levy, a former Israeli negotiator and now a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, pointed to growing tensions in Gaza and said if the situation escalated further, both Olmert and Abbas could find it difficult to attend the Annapolis conference anyway. ...
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