WASHINGTON — In a bit of last-minute diplomacy, President Bush called the leaders of Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday to discuss details of the U.S. peace conference set to begin in Annapolis, Md., next week, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the goal is to wrap up a peace deal to produce a Palestinian state by the time Bush leaves office.
“The parties have said they are going to make efforts to conclude it in this president’s term, and it’s no secret that means about a year,” Rice said. “That’s what we’ll try and do. Nobody can guarantee that; all you can do is make your best effort.”
With four days until delegations are expected to arrive, the Bush administration is still engaged in intense efforts to ensure that the key countries will indeed send top officials to the first Middle East peace conference since the 2000 Camp David talks.
U.S. and Arab officials said the Arab League meeting in Egypt set for today and Friday will be pivotal in determining the level of participation.
Saudi Arabia and Syria, central players in the Arab-Israeli peace process, are not expected to respond to the U.S. invitation until after the Cairo summit.
“The whole situation will be reviewed, and we will see the cost and the benefit,” Arab League official Hesham Youssef told The Associated Press in Cairo. “But certainly it is an opportunity, and we hope that Israel will be committed this time.”
In two sessions with reporters Wednesday, Rice said the wider Arab world needs to be engaged “early and often” to give confidence to Israel that when a Palestinian state becomes a reality, the wider Arab-Israeli conflict will end.
