By Peter Baker and Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, May 24, 2006

President Bush yesterday embraced Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's strategy of withdrawing from isolated Jewish settlements on the West Bank and unilaterally imposing final borders over Palestinian objections if he cannot negotiate a peace plan with their leaders.

Welcoming Olmert to the White House for the first time since his election eight weeks ago, Bush reserved judgment on the specifics of any "realignment" plan but called the concepts "bold ideas" and expressed satisfaction that the new Israeli leader would first make a serious attempt to craft an agreement with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"While any final-status agreement will be only achieved on the basis of mutually agreed changes and no party should prejudice the outcome of negotiations on a final-status agreement, the prime minister's ideas could be an important step toward the peace we both support," Bush said with Olmert at his side in the East Room.

Although qualified, the Bush endorsement cleared the way for Olmert to pursue his plans for resolving decades-old territorial disputes with the Palestinians. In succeeding Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after his debilitating stroke, Olmert vowed to pull out of much of the West Bank and redraw lines -- much as Sharon withdrew from Gaza last year. Many Palestinians view Olmert's realignment as a land grab because he intends to keep major West Bank enclaves and East Jerusalem within Israel.

Bush pressed Olmert during their meetings to sit down with Abbas before proceeding. In his public comments, Olmert vowed to do so soon and to "exhaust all efforts" to find a mutually acceptable peace deal. At the same time, Olmert ruled out talks involving the Palestinian cabinet and parliament dominated by the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, unless it renounces support for violence and recognizes Israel's right to exist, a position that Bush supports.

"We are anxious to have negotiations," Olmert said. "We will look and find every possible avenue to help establish a process of negotiations on the basis of these conditions. However, as I said, we will not wait indefinitely."

If he does not find a negotiating partner, he said, he will proceed with his plan to draw his own boundaries separating Israel from a new Palestinian state. "Hopefully, this is something that will happen within the next three to four years," he said.

Abbas met with Olmert's foreign minister on Monday, but it remains unclear whether he has the ability to negotiate an agreement for the Palestinian side, much less enforce one. Abbas's more moderate party, Fatah, refused to join the new cabinet after Hamas won parliamentary elections in January, and security forces for the two factions have clashed in recent days.

For Bush, yesterday's meetings were the first opportunity to size up Olmert as a partner in the Middle East. Bush values personal relations with foreign leaders, and those who find chemistry with him often benefit. Aides called the visit a "getting to know you" summit with meetings in the Oval Office and the White House residence and a dinner.

Both sides said afterward the two got off to a good start. "The level of comfort between the two men, and the two governments, rose during the visit, and that was really the purpose of the visit," said a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under official ground rules.

During their public appearance together, the president and the prime minister both made nostalgic references to the first time they met in 1998, when Bush was governor of Texas and Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem.

"The meeting went very well in terms of creating the bond between the two leaders," said Israeli Ambassador Daniel Ayalon. "They are on the same wavelength, sharing the same vision and strategic outlook."

The focus of the sessions was the tattered state of the Middle East peace process. Since 2002, Bush has pushed for a "road map" to a settlement that would establish a Palestinian state but, with Hamas in power, a brokered deal appears unlikely. "The best solution is one in which there's a negotiated final status," Bush said. But he added: "How can you have two states side by side in peace if one of the partners does not recognize the other state's right to exist?"

Bush's embrace of Olmert could put him further at odds with European allies who see his policy as too tilted toward Israel while he is trying to hold together a transatlantic coalition against Iran's nuclear development program. But for the president, Olmert's strategy may prove the only way to cement any legacy in the historically perilous Middle East peace process.

"This is realistically the best Olmert could hope for on his maiden voyage to the White House," said David Makovsky, director of the project on the Middle East peace process at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "The president signaled that the Olmert concept, while not a full plan, is a constructive move that could lead to a final mutual agreement."

Makovsky noted that before the meeting, "both sides had lowered expectations below the Dead Sea." He added that "in the Middle East, it takes more than one to be unilateral" and what is needed is a "parallel mechanism of contacts" with Abbas. He said it is unrealistic to expect full negotiations, given Abbas's weakened political standing, but that Abbas "should be allowed to shape the plan, to have a vote, not a veto."

Edward G. Abington Jr., a former State Department official and a consultant to the Palestinian Authority, said he felt that Bush's remarks indicated caution about Olmert's plan. "This is the opening of negotiations between Olmert and the Bush administration," he said.

Abington said it was noteworthy that Bush emphasized that any changes must be agreed to by Palestinians and Israelis and that Olmert needs to talk to Abbas, although he said it is unclear how productive such meetings would be. Sharon, he said, tended to have pro forma meetings with Abbas. "There is still the possibility for a Palestinian role. It depends on whether the Palestinians also will be coming up with options on their own."

And yet, even as Bush was urging Olmert to bargain with Abbas, his fellow Republicans in the House pushed through legislation to officially label the Palestinian Authority he heads a "terrorist sanctuary," impose greater restrictions on aid and deny visas to Palestinian officials -- including Abbas. The House voted 361 to 37 to send the bill to the Senate. White House spokesman Tony Snow objected, saying the bill "unnecessarily constrains" the president's authority. Olmert will address a joint session of Congress today.

Olmert used the visit to press Bush about Iran, whose president has called for wiping Israel off the map even as Tehran is allegedly developing nuclear weapons. Although U.S. intelligence believes Iran is years from building a bomb, Olmert believes the turning point could come in months because Iran will gain enough technological know-how to eventually develop a weapon.

"This is a moment of truth," Olmert said. "It is still not too late to prevent it from happening."

Bush repeated his vow to defend Israel against Iran: "In the event of any attack on Israel, the United States will come to Israel's aid."