Bush's Next Step? Who Knows?

Bush: "That's going to be up to Israel and Syria."

Blitzer: "Well, what do you think?"

Bush: "I think what they ought to do is focus on a Palestinian state, Wolf. That's what we're focusing on."

Middle East Reaction

Scott Wilson and Ellen Knickmeyer write in The Washington Post: "In cafes and blogs in the Arab world, the Annapolis conference prompted little more than wisecracks. . . .

"While newspapers in Israel and the Palestinian territories carried extensive coverage of the Annapolis conference -- some hopeful, much of it doubtful -- there were few indications on the ground that what Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called a 'historic' moment in the six-decade conflict had taken place. . . .

"'The event in Annapolis was a nonevent,' said Ali Jarbawi, a political science professor at Bir Zeit University near the West Bank city of Ramallah. 'There was nothing there -- three speeches and that's it. For people here, the reaction is simple. We'll believe it when we see it.'

Jeffrey Fleishman writes in the Los Angeles Times: "This week's Middle East conference in Annapolis, Md., has highlighted Arab unease over the ability and will of a weak U.S. president to deliver peace. At the same time, it has stoked fears that Israel has scored a public relations coup while refusing to concede on such core issues as Palestinian refugees and the fate of Jerusalem. . . .

"Arab leaders worry that if Abbas is perceived to have gained little from Annapolis, it will strengthen Iranian-backed militant groups, such as Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon. One of the main reasons Sunni Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia agreed to participate in the summit was to counter Iran's political involvement across the region, including its alliance with Syria and influence in Iraq."

Ken Ellingwood writes in the Los Angeles Times from Israel: "Though some observers found hope for a new start, ordinary people and commentators on both sides for the most part treated the outcome of the U.S.-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Md., with the world-weary air of those who have heard this before. . . .

"[P]eople were reminded anew how many blown deadlines already litter this troubled landscape. The U.S.-backed peace initiative known as the 'road map,' unveiled in 2003, envisioned a Palestinian state by 2005, for example. . . .

"Skeptics point to a variety of reasons why it is doubtful peace talks will go far, even though polls show majorities on both sides favor a negotiated solution to the conflict. Olmert is unpopular and his standing shaky because of corruption allegations and uncertainty over how he will be judged by an official inquiry probing the government's performance during last year's war in Lebanon. Abbas is on even less stable ground, with the radical Hamas movement in sole control of the Gaza Strip and his rule limited to the West Bank."

As for Yesterday

Steven Lee Myers and Steven Erlanger write in the New York Times: "The three leaders, with their aides, also met for 20 minutes informally in the Oval Office and then appeared in the Rose Garden as Mr. Bush offered a short statement that seemed strikingly subdued after the emotional appeals of Annapolis. . . .