by David Nitkin

President Bush said today he wants to continue toward a diplomatic resolution to Iran's nuclear ambitions, and would not directly address reports that Israel plans a military strike to destroy Iranian uranium enrichment capabilities before the end of the year.

"I have made it very clear to all parties that the first option ought to be to solve this problem diplomatically," Bush said. "And the best way to solve it diplomatically is for the United States to work with other nations to send a focused message. And that is that, You will be isolated and you will have economic hardship if you continue trying to enrich."

Bush addressed his goals for an upcoming trip to Japan for a G8 summit during a statement in the Rose Garden, and took five questions from reporters at the conclusion of his prepared remarks. Two of the questions concerned Israel's intentions in Iran, a topic of escalating debate. But the president did not specifically mention the prospect of Israeli military attacks in his responses.

Bush said he supported a proposal from Russian leader Vladimir Putin to provide enriched uranium for an Iranian civilian nuclear power program and collect the spent fuel, "thereby negating the need for the Iranian regime to enrich at all."

Questions about Israeli intentions in Iran have swelled since last month, when more than 100 Israeli F-16s and F-15s flew more than 900 miles over the Mediterranean in an exercise that included refueling tankers and helicopters that could rescue downed pilots, the New York Times reported. The distance covered during the exercise showed that Israel jets could reach Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment facility.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, and Condoleezza Rice arrive at a press conference at Abbas' headquarters on Sunday in the West Bank city of Ramallah. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

By Joel Greenberg

JERUSALEM -- On her sixth Middle East trip this year to promote peace efforts, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday ratcheted up her criticism of Israeli settlement building on land Palestinians want for a future state, saying that it harmed ongoing negotiations.

The sharpening of the American rhetoric on the settlements followed the latest Israeli announcement of new construction on West Bank land annexed to Jerusalem, work that Palestinian officials say undermines peace talks and prospects for a territorially viable Palestinian state.

It was unclear whether Rice's language signaled a toughening of U.S. policy toward Israeli settlement expansion that might be backed by diplomatic steps, or was just a stronger reiteration of Washington's long-standing opposition to settlement building.

"I do believe, and the United States believes, that the actions and the announcements that are taking place are indeed having a negative effect on the atmosphere for negotiation, and that is not what we want," Rice told U.S. reporters after meeting in Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Read the full story at ChicagoTribune.com.

by Clarence Page

He wouldn't bite.

I tossed the question of the day, in my opinion, at Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in a meeting he held with American journalists at Blair House, the historic VIP guest house near the White House, and he tossed it right back.

I wanted to know how the prime minister felt about Sen. Barack Obama's vow to meet with leaders like Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, without preconditions, if elected president. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee who spontaneously sang "bomb, bomb, Iran" at one public forum, has used Obama's promise to cause trouble for the Illinois Democrat. Olmert was not about to let the issue cause trouble for him.

Olmert did have the US presidential candidates on his mind. He was scheduled to talk later in the day to McCain, Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton, who was reported to be putting her White House bid on hold this Saturday.

For a guy walking around with a ton of bricks hanging over his head, Olmert was cheerful and upbeat as if he were running in his first election, not facing what many think will be his last days in office. Back home his popularity has nosedived. Some of his own allies have asked him to step down after court testimony indicating that he received stacks of cash from a New York businessman.

by Mark Silva

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt - President Bush, concluding a five-day tour of the Middle East, voiced increased confidence that Israeli and Palestinian leaders can agree upon the outlines of a new Palestine state by the end of this year.

The obstacles to such an agreement are legion - ranging from persistent violence to the precariousness of the political power of Israeli and Palestinian leaders negotiating an accord.

Yet the White House maintains that Bush gained confidence in a series of private talks with Mideast leaders during this journey - Israeli, Palestinian, Saudi, Egyptian and Jordanian - that the outlines of a new state can be drawn by the end of his own presidency. Without elaborating on secretive talks, the administration claimed "tangible progress on hard issues'' during the past few days - leaving the door open to another possible Bush visit to Israel, the third this year, before leaving office in January.

"A peace agreement is in the Palestinians' interests, it is in Israel's interest, it is in Arab states' interests, and it is in the world's interest,'' Bush said Sunday, in an address to a World Economic Forum on the Middle East. "And I firmly believe that with leadership and courage, we can reach that peace agreement this year.''

The actual creation of any independent Palestinian state, the White House ready allows, will take much longer - and depends on further agreement between Israelis and Palestinians over lingering disputes over the fate of refugees, the containment of violence, retrenchment of Israeli settlements and many other matters.

"Is it done yet? No,'' said Stephen Hadley, the president's national security adviser, after a series of private, individual meetings between Bush and leaders of several nations in Israel, Saudi Arabia and here in Sharm el-Sheik. "Are we making progress? The president's view is, yes, we're making progress.''

Analysts skeptical of the chances of success for this pursuit say they have seen no new cause for optimism, with the Israeli and Palestinian heads of state negotiating it facing political problems of their own.

"If you get an agreement from these leaders, how do these leaders begin to implement it -- you have two incredibly weak leaders and a weak American president,'' Jon Alterman, director of Middle East studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Sunday. "How do you bring the skeptics on board? I don't see a plan for that. And the skeptics in this conflict have a lot of guns.''

See the rest of the story in today's Tribune and an expanded version here in the Swamp:

by Mark Silva

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt - President Bush, concluding a five-day tour of the Middle East, will voice increased confidence that Israeli and Palestinian leaders can agree upon the outlines of a new Palestine state by the end of this year.

The obstacles to such an agreement are legion - ranging from persistent violence to the precariousness of the political power of the Israeli and Palestinian leaders negotiating an accord.

Yet the White House maintains that Bush gained confidence in a series of private talks with Mideast leaders during this journey - Israeli, Palestinian, Saudi, Egyptian and Jordanian - that the outlines of a new state can be drawn by the end of his own presidency. Without elaborating on secretive talks, the administration claimed "tangible progress on hard issues'' during the past few days - leaving the door open to another possible Bush visit to Israel, the third this year, before he leaves office in January.

"A peace agreement is in the Palestinians' interest, it is in Israel's interest, it is in Arab states' interest, and it is in the world's interest,'' Bush plans to say today, in an address to a World Economic Forum on the Middle East. "And I firmly believe that with leadership and courage, we can reach that peace agreement this year.

The actual creation of any independent Palestinian state, the Bush administration ready allows, will take much longer - and depends on further agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians over lingering disputes about refugees, the containment of violence, retrenchment of Israeli settlements and many other matters.

"Is it done yet? No,'' said Stephen Hadley, the president's national security adviser, after a series of private, individual meetings between Bush and the leaders of several nations in Israel, Saudi Arabia and here in Sharm el-Sheikh. "Are we making progress? The president's view is, yes, we're making progress.''

The president will express that optimism in an address to a regional forum here in which Bush voices the principles of what the White House calls his "freedom agenda.'' This vision frames the conflict of the times as a struggle between democracy and tyranny, freedom and oppression. And as that struggle unfolds in the Middle East, Bush maintains, an Israeli-Palestinian accord is central to its resolution.

bv Mark Silva

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt -- A dozen young people -- Jews, Israeli Arabs, Palestinians and an Ethiopian -- gathered around President George W. Bush the other day for a rare moment of candor and questioning at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem.

"I think it comes out that you don't like Muslims,'' Henrietta, a 16-year-old Christian Palestinian, told the president. "Because, in most of your speeches, you do tend to relate extremism to Muslims.''

"Actually,'' Bush replied, "what I say is, `You're not a religious person if you're a murderer.' "

Then he abruptly abandoned the explanation and headed for the confession.

"You're right,'' the president told the teenager. "I've got to do a better job of making it clear.''

The president has faced a tall order of communication during this five-day tour of the Middle East, and much of it has centered on convincing Arabs, Palestinians and Egyptians that this unwavering ally of Israel has more than the interests of the 60-year-old Jewish state at heart as he presses for the definition of a new Palestinian state during his final year in office.

by Matthew Hay Brown

In the last major address of his trip to the Middle East, President Bush plans to urge the region's leaders to "move past old grievances" and toward economic and political reforms.

Bush, who has visited Israel and Saudi Arabia, is scheduled to speak Sunday before the World Economic Forum in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt. He previews his remarks today in his weekly radio address.

"I will stress the importance of building dynamic and diverse economies that unleash the creativity and enterprise of citizens throughout the region - especially women and young people," he says. "I will make clear that the only way to ensure true prosperity is to expand political and economic freedom. And I will urge leaders across the region to reject spoilers such as the regimes in Iran and Syria, move past old grievances and embrace the changes necessary for a day when societies across the Middle East are based on justice, tolerance, and freedom."

The complete address follows.

by Frank James

Watching the appearance of conservative radio-talk show host Kevin James on Chris Matthews' "Hardball" show yesterday was a little like watching a car wreck. Very ugly but riveting too.

The topic was whether President Bush was correct, during a speech at Israel's Knesset, to criticize some people (read Sen. Barack Obama) as appeasers, just like Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister who infamously tried to avert war by making concessions to Adolf Hitler.

James (no relation) said Bush was absolutely correct. Then Matthews, like a smart courtroom lawyer who knows beforehand how the witness will answer the question, asked James what exactly Chamberlain did wrong.

That's where the fun began. It was clear that James, who's more of a screamer than even Matthews, didn't have a handle on Chamberlain, at one time getting so flustered that he referred to him and "Nevillain Chamberlain."

"He was an appeaser" was the best James could shout. Which, as you can tell from the video, Matthews suspected all along.

I've seen before that look Matthews' had on his face as he toyed with James. It was on a cat I once owned which tormented a mouse it had caught.

Presidents Bush and Mubarak at Red Sea resort called "city of peace.'' Photos by Silva

by Mark Silva

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt – Despite the persisting violence that imperils prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak today lent his voice to a chorus of leaders holding out an ambitious hope for a peace agreement by the end of this year.

And President Bush, meeting with Mubarak here at the conclusion of an eight-day tour of the Middle East in which Bush has sought support of Arab leaders for negotiations he is spurring between the Israelis and Palestinians, emphatically underscored how serious he is about achieving an agreement this year.

Mubarak told Bush – as other Arab leaders have told the president during his six-nation tour – that resolution of the conflict for Palestinians is key to a broader peace throughout the region.

“I wish to reach a peace agreement before the end of his term,’’ said Mubarak, standing alongside Bush. “We are keen on supporting peace efforts. We are ready, hand-in-hand with the United States of America and the Quartet (of international leaders) and all other regional stakeholders… to put an end to this Israeli-Palestinian conflict… and open new horizons in the Middle East to more peace and security.’’

Bush, basing his own optimism for peace talks on the commitment of Israeli and Palestinian leaders to secure a lasting agreement, also reiterated his promise to return to the region – Bush, who made his first visit to Israel as president during this tour, plans to return for the nation’s 60th anniversary in May.

“When I say I’m coming back to stay engaged, I mean it,’’ Bush said by Mubarak’s side, “and when I say I’m optimistic we can get a deal done, I mean what I’m saying.’’

by Mark Silva

KUWAIT CITY, KUWAIT -- "Hand-in-hand on issues core to Kuwait,'' reads the banner headline of the Saturday morning edition of Arab Times, the English language newspaper in Kuwait, indeed picturing a smiling President Bush arriving holding hands with a smiling Amir of Kuwait.

This show of unity at the arrival of the American president at his first stop on a five-nation tour of Arab nations in the Persian Gulf region and Egypt belies the underlying differences that Bush still faces here on "core issues'' -- not only the peace talks underway between Israel and the Palestinians, but also the U.S. stance toward Iran and its potential threat in the region.

And the welcome of the American president today at the Amir's private air terminal falls far short of the hero's welcome that Kuwaitis offered Bush's father when he visited in 1993 -- after leading the coalition of forces that booted the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's invading army from Kuwait in the Gulf War. Then, people lined the airport awaiting the former president's arrival.

Kuwait was one of only two invited guests to take a pass on the Middle East peace conference which Bush convened in Annapolis in November. And Kuwait has some deep concerns about the issue of four Kuwaitis detained by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Nevertheless, Bush, who dined with the Amir Sheikh Sahah Al Ahmed Al Sabah after his arrival here, found cause for optimism in the ministry's public words here. The Amir noted that eight Kuwaitis who had been detained at Guantanamo but were returned have been "good citizens and work hard to prevent youth from falling victim to extremist ideologies, which is proof of Kuwait's ability to contain its sons and rehabilitate them for the good of the nation.''

And the foreign minister, Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah had this to say: "President Bush reiterated his intent to see the establishment a Palestinian state before the end of his term (in his meeting with the Amir) and His Highness the Amir said efforts of the U.S. administration to bring justice to Palestinians and guarantee their right establish an independent sdtate would no doubt be supported by the international community.''

On Saturday, Bush plans to address U.S. troops stationed here and meet with Gen. David Petraeus, commander of multi-national forces in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, who both plan to brief reporters traveling with Bush on the status of the war in Iraq.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

by Mark Silva

KUWAIT CITY, KUWAIT – President Bush, vowing to secure a “peace treaty’’ between Israelis and Palestinians by the end of this year, plans to return to Israel – for his second visit as president in four months – during the May celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Jewish homeland.

For all the skepticism surrounding Bush’s newfound goal of establishing the “outlines’’ of the borders of a new Palestinian state before he leaves office in January 2009, the White House insists that an agreement is possible. At the same time, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is warning that no one should expect some “blinding flash’’ of progress in talks with Arab leaders, as the president arrives here to seek their support for the Middle East peace talks.

But Bush will be returning to Israel, he said today, as he departed from Tel Aviv, and Rice elaborated on these plans during the flight from Israel to Kuwait, where the president was dining with the emir tonight -- Air Force One parked at the tall-tented and decorative private royal air terminal here in Kuwait - and planning a meeting with U.S. troops Saturday.

“He’s going to come back for the 60th anniversary of the founding of Israel, but of course it will also be another opportunity to do what he did here, which was to really give momentum to the process that Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas are engaged in,’’ Rice told reporters today aboard Air Force One en route from Tel Aviv to Kuwait City, where Bush is beginning the second phase of an eight-day tour of the Middle East.

The first phase involved Bush’s bid to “nudge’’ peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, with Bush emerging from Israel and the West Bank this week buoyed by a sense of optimism that an agreement is achievable. The second phase is a tour of this and four other Persian Gulf region Arab nations, seeking their support for not only the Middle East peace process, but also the U.S. policy of isolating Iran until it agrees to cease the enrichment of uranium.

The tomb of Yasser Arafat, the late Palestinian leader with whom President Bush refused to negotiate, lies beneath this modern mosque of stone and glass at the Muqata, the compound of the Palestinian government where Bush this week proclaimed that a "peace treaty'' between the Palestinians and Israelis is possible by year's end. Photos by Mark Silva

by Mark Silva

JERUSALEM -- The headline across the top of the Jerusalem Post this morning: "A peace treaty by the time I leave office.''

These, of course, are President Bush's words, uttered after two days of negotiations with Israeli and Palestinian leaders during his first visit to Israel as president.

Suddenly, the president who had never come to Israel during seven years in office promises to return -- perhaps repeateadly -- during his final year as president in pursuit of a treaty outlining the contours of a new, independent Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace with Israel which he has called possible to achieve by year's end.

And suddenly, a White House that arrived in Israel setting expectations as low as possible, with National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley cautioning reporters before this journey that they should not expect any big headlines, has set soaring expectations for peace in the year ahead for a beleaguered nation that will celebrate its 60th anniversay in May.

"We're not looking for headline announcements,'' Hadley had said at the White House last week. "What the president is looking for is better understanding of the challenge we face, and a commitment to dealing with that challenge.''

But they have gotten their headlines, all right: With Bush vowing repeatedly during his appearance at the headquarters of the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank this week that a peace treaty should be signed before the end of this year -- and Bush maintaining that he will do everything he can to make that happen.

Skepticism abounds here, however. "We have been down this road before,'' an Israeli friend of mine said this morning.

President Bush, standing beneath a portrait of the late Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, with whom he had refused to negotiate, at the West Bank headquarters of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, holding out hope for peace. Photos by Mark Silva

by Mark Silva

RAMALLAH, Israel – Despite many obstacles to peace between Palestinians and Israelis, President Bush asserted flatly here today that a “signed peace treaty’’ is possible by the end of this year – the “timeframe’’ of his own presidency’s end.

Bush and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met privately and had lunch today at the Muqata, the Palestinian government headquarters in the West Bank atop a craggy hill in valleys of terraced rock, piano-wire fences, cement walls and Israeli checkpoints.

The late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, with whom Bush refused to negotiate, is buried in this compound – a portrait of the smiling PLO leader hung behind Bush at a press conference with Abbas. The new leader is committed to a negotiated peace with Israel that leads to the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

The two faced a delayed start with a system of headsets that was failing to deliver the interpreter’s report of Abbas’ words, prompting Bush to joke while Abbas spoke: “I agree completely.’’

Bush also told Abbas: “Listen, they say I have enough problems speaking English as it is.’’ But it was largely Texan which Bush was speaking here today, as he delivered his vision of hope for a peaceful settlement in forceful and passionate terms.

The Muqata, the Palestinian government compound.

Presdent Bush holds hope in "a historic opportunity'' for peace for the Middle East. Yet the achievement of a peaceful two-state solution, which Bush first articulated as U.S. policy in 2002, remains no nearer today. The welcoming refrain of a children's chorus that greeted Bush upon arrival in Jerusalem this week served as a reminder, with the eight young performers singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." White House photo by Chris Greenberg.

by Mark Silva and and Joel Greenberg

JERUSALEM -- As President Bush began talks here Wednesday to push forward peace negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert insisted that any accord with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was unlikely without a halt to continuing rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip.

Delivered as Olmert stood alongside Bush on his first presidential visit to the Holy Land, the remarks signaled that any peace deal could not be limited to the West Bank, where Abbas' Fatah movement is dominant, but would have to include an end to violence from Gaza, where the militant Islamic group Hamas seized control in factional fighting in June.

"We made it clear to the Palestinians, they know it, and they understand that Gaza must be a part of the package," Olmert said, "and that as long as there will be terror from Gaza it will be very, very hard to reach any peaceful understanding between us and the Palestinians."

On the first leg of a Middle East tour that includes five Arab nations but not Gaza, Bush promised to push Palestinian leaders on security matters and lend whatever pressure was needed to expedite talks--yet said he cannot "butt in and actually dictate the end result."

For more, see the rest of the story in today's Tribune:

The Western Wall, holiest of all sites for Judaism, stands beneath the Dome of the Rock, one of Islam's holiest site. Leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority hold out hope for two peacefully coexisting states, yet insist that illegal settlements and attacks must stop. Photo by Mark Silva

by Mark Silva

JERUSALEM – With Israel promising today not to build any new settlements in the West Bank, the prime minister insisted that continuing rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip stand in the way of any hope for a peaceful, two-state existence.

And with President Bush promising to press Palestinian leaders on the next stop of his Middle East tour to gain control over security, Bush offered to lend whatever personal “pressure’’ may be necessary to expedite peace talks – yet said that he cannot “butt in and actually dictate the end result of the agreement.’’

As Bush prepares for a tour of several Arab nations in the Persian Gulf region, the president also issued a stern warning to Iran about averting any further provocations such as the reported threats which Iranian speed-boats posed to U.S. warships cruising international waters in the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.

“Iranian boats came out and were very provocative, and it was a dangerous gesture on their part,’’ Bush said at a joint press conference here with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. “There will be serious consequences if they attack our ships, pure and simple. My advice to them is, ‘Don’t do it.’’’

The dual discussion of an accord between Israelis and Palestinians – with yet new rocket attacks against Israel from Gaza today – and the continuing threat which Iran poses underscores the fragility of stability throughout the region as Bush undertakes an eight-day tour starting in Israel and carrying him through five Arab states, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

A soldier prays at the Western Wall, holiest of sites for Judaism, in a plaza guarded by sentries with metal and bomb detectors. Photos by Mark Silva.

by Mark Silva

JERUSALEM – Walking the Via Dolorosa and following the many Stations of the Cross leading to the site of the crucifixion of Jesus, pausing at the Western “Wailing” Wall of the temple destroyed at the site of the Dome of the Rock, and encircling the tiled mosque, one begins to appreciate the inexorable conflict of three great religions claiming the same sacred site.

On this high ground overlooking three valleys occupied since 5,000 years before the birth of Christ, conquered and lost many times over through the centuries, with the Israelites exiled and repatriated time and again, President Bush arrived today to meet, separately, with the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the hope of spurring peace talks.

Air Force One landed at a sunny and mild Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv just before noon local time, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rolled out a long red carpet to the big blue bird. Bush descended the stairs alone and greeted his hosts.

“Good to see you, sir,’’ Bush said. “Yessir, good to be here.’’

Bush, chuckling, strolled along the carpet flanked by his smiling hosts.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,’’ Bush said to one of the well-wishers who greeted him in the reception line at the end of the carpet.

The Western Wall of the temple destroyed in the year 70. The Dome of the Rock, built in 691, stands above the wall.

by Mark Silva, and updated at 10 pm

JERUSALEM – During a week-long sojourn through the Middle East, President Bush will see the mount where Jesus Christ delivered the sermon of sermons: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.’’

In pursuit of a long-elusive peace between Israelis and Palestinians, the president will arrive here Wednesday for meetings with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem and Palestinian leaders in the West Bank’s Ramallah and take a tour of what the born-again president hails as The Holy Land.

He will see the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Church of the Beatitudes in Galilee, and, as he crosses the Persian Gulf, he will dine with the crown prince of Abu Dhabi at a retreat where the sheikh hunts with falcons, and he will dine with the Saudi Arabian king at an expansive farm where the 83-year-old ruler maintains and races 150 Arabian stallions.

With little more than a year left in his presidency, Bush, making his first visit to Israel as president, is holding out hope that the “outlines’’ of an independent Palestinian state might be known before he leaves office.

Bush holds out this hope against the odds of a riven political landscape in which Palestinians themselves are divided, the scholarly leaders of the Palestinian Authority – including an economist-prime minister schooled in Texas and bred as a “Longhorns’’ fan – standing in stark contrast to militant leaders of Hamas who control Gaza and remain enemies of Israel.

Is