WASHINGTON — President George W. Bush, poised to finish his presidency without the Mideast peace deal he once said was in reach, declared Friday that Israelis and Palestinians have made great strides toward settling decades of conflict.
“No question, this is a hard challenge,” Bush said in the Oval Office alongside the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas. “But nevertheless, people must recognize that we have made a good deal of progress.”
Abbas concurred: “Some might say that all these efforts perhaps went in vain. I happen to disagree.”
In what was likely their last face-to-face meeting before Bush leaves office Jan. 20, the two men sought to praise each other and emphasize what has been gained, not the opportunity lost. Their meeting came just days after the U.N. Security Council endorsed as “irreversible” the administration’s peace process. It was launched by Bush last year in Annapolis, Md.
The president seized on the U.N. move as confirming a “path to a Palestinian state, and a path to peace in the Middle East.” Bush had confidently said a peace deal — built around the outlines of a first-ever Palestinian state living in peace with Israel — was doable by year’s end.
For his part, Abbas was effusive about Bush’s efforts. He said the U.S. president was fair and firm in pushing both sides to meet their obligations.
“There is no doubt that we will always remember the efforts that you have undertook to promote the peace process,” Abbas said. The Associated Press
