Cheney Focuses on Mideast Talks

Israel counters that the Palestinians have not met their obligations, either, particularly when it comes to cracking down on militancy and implementing law and order in the West Bank cities under their control.

But some Israeli leaders have said the state needs to do more to strengthen Abbas and Fayyad, even if they have not accomplished all that they promised.

Israeli minister Ami Ayalon said a recent poll suggesting surging popularity for the radical Islamist movement Hamas and declining support for moderate leaders such as Abbas should be "a strategic alert from a security point of view."

Ayalon said he feared that Hamas, which seized control of the coastal Gaza Strip last June, could also end up controlling the West Bank. In order to stop that from happening, he said, Israel needs to act quickly to show Palestinians that Abbas's strategy of negotiation is more effective than Hamas's violent tactics.

"For us, the question is what we can do in order to empower him," said Ayalon, a Labor Party leader. "He believes in two states. He believes in diplomacy. And he was elected by the Palestinian people. This is all I care about."

Cheney arrived in Israel on Saturday after spending two days in Saudi Arabia, where he met with King Abdullah on efforts to stabilize the energy markets.

Cheney is expected to travel to the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday to meet with Abbas.