Frantic bid to bridge Middle East divide | Israel and the Middle East | Guardian Unlimited

"The United States was making frantic efforts to close gaps between Israelis and Palestinians last night on the eve of an ambitious and high-risk gamble to 'relaunch' final peace negotiations after seven years of bloodshed and stalemate. President George Bush held separate meetings with Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, at the White House in an 11th-hour effort to agree a joint declaration of principles before today's Annapolis summit - which is shaping up to be the biggest Israeli-Arab conference since Madrid in 1991. At a dinner for the delegates last night, Mr Bush warned of hard bargaining ahead: 'We've come together this week because we share a common goal: two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security. Achieving this goal requires difficult compromises, and the Israelis and Palestinians have elected leaders committed to making them.' But pressure from hardliners at home fuelled profound scepticism about the prospects of a breakthrough. The Islamist movement Hamas warned Abbas he would be a 'traitor' if he made concessions to Israel. Israel's opposition Likud leader, Binyamin Netanyahu, said Palestinians were 'not lifting a finger to halt terror'. Thousands protested in Jer"

Cautious hope for Mid-East talks

The US, Israeli and Palestinian leaders have voiced hope that a conference in Maryland could produce a starting point for serious peace negotiations.

Speaking at a formal dinner for participants, US President George Bush expressed his "personal commitment" towards resolving the conflict.

But he warned "difficult compromises" lay ahead for both sides.

Correspondents say expectations for Tuesday's meeting in the city of Annapolis are modest.

More than 40 organisations and countries, including Saudi Arabia and Syria, are attending the conference at a US naval academy.

The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, has been meeting Israeli and Palestinian teams in an effort to clinch a joint statement that sets out an outline for how negotiations will proceed post-Annapolis.

'This time it's different'

Mr Olmert and Mr Abbas had separate meetings with US President George W Bush in the White House on Monday.

Mr Olmert told reporters the "international support" provided by participants was a crucial factor in his optimism.

"This time it's different because we are going to have lots of participants in what I hope will launch a serious process of negotiations between us and the Palestinians," Mr Olmert said.

But Mr Olmert also cautioned that no peace deal could be agreed without the halting of rocket attacks into Israel from Gaza - controlled by the Islamist movement Hamas, which has stayed away from the conference.

For his part, Mr Abbas praised the initiative but said talks would have to address the thorny obstacles to Palestinian statehood - the "permanent-status issues" - that have felled previous attempts at peace negotiations.