Israel is making
"great efforts" and "serious progress" in its negotiations
with the Palestinians, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday night.
Addressing an international conference in Jerusalem, attended by US President
George W Bush, Olmert said the negotiations "hopefully will come to
fruition within this year, 2008", in accordance with a pledge he and
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas made at last year's Annapolis summit, to
try and reach a peace deal by the end of the year.
Most of Olmert's speech, however, was devoted to praising the United States, which he described as Israel's "closest and mosty dependable ally."
Israelis, Olmert said, knew they could only rely on themselves for protection,
but, he said, everyone knew that Israel could always rely on the US for help in navigating "geopolitical waters."
"I say the United States under your leadership represents the pinnacle of
this friendship," he told Bush.
The president and first lady arrived in Israel Wednesday afternoon for a
48-hour visit to honour the Jewish state on its 60th anniversary, which was
celebrated last week.
Bush is slated to hold talks with Israeli leaders, and address the
international conference in Jerusalem, and the Knesset, before leaving for Saudi Arabia on Friday, dpa reported.
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