Bush To Visit Israel, West Bank on Middle East Swing

WASHINGTON — President Bush, trying to nurture fragile peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian Arabs, will make his first trip to Israel and the West Bank next month as part of a nine-day swing through the Middle East.

Mr. Bush also will make stops in Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. He will leave Washington on January 8 and return on January 16. Egypt is the only country on the itinerary that Mr. Bush has visited before.

While Middle East peacemaking has been on the back burner during most of his presidency, Mr. Bush last month hosted a high-stakes conference in Annapolis, Md., to encourage talks between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs on an independent Palestinian Arab homeland. He left energized about helping the Palestinian Arabs and Israelis find a way to live peacefully as neighbors — and write a chapter for himself in the book of Middle East diplomacy.

Asked whether Mr. Bush will engage in detailed negotiating, a White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino, said: "I do not anticipate — although we can let you know as we get closer — whether there will be detailed discussions about concessions."

She said Mr. Bush wants the leaders to keep their eye on finding a way to achieve a long-term, sustainable peace.

Ms. Perino said Mr. Bush currently is scheduled to meet separately with Israeli and Palestinian Arab leaders, but not hold a three-way meeting. She said Mr. Bush's role will be to pull the Israeli and Palestinian Arab leaders together — "just like he did in Annapolis."

The White House said the trip also will be an opportunity to reaffirm America's commitment to the security of allies in the Middle East, especially the Gulf nations, and work with them to combat terrorism and extremism. Ms. Perino said she did not think a stop in Iraq will be added, although the White House does not announce such trips in advance anyway for security reasons.

In Jerusalem, Mr. Bush will meet with President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Olmert, and in the West Bank he will meet with the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. The president will then travel to Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.

Mr. Bush says conditions in Israel and the Palestinian Arab territories now are ripe for a more aggressive American role: Messrs. Abbas and Olmert agreed in Annapolis to renew peace talks, there is a unifying fight against extremism fed by the Palestinian Arab conflict, and the world understands the urgency of acting now.

Negotiating teams held their first session in the region on December 12, but a peace agreement is far from a reality. Fundamental differences on these key issues have led to the collapse of previous peace efforts: the borders of a Palestinian Arab state, the status of Jerusalem, and the rights of Palestinian Arab refugees and their descendants.