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"