Rice tempers expectations for Mideast talks

updated 2:50 p.m. ET Oct. 17, 2007

JERUSALEM - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that the proposed U.S.-hosted Mideast conference would be a “stop in a process” — and appeared to be lowering expectations — as new tensions erupted when the Palestinian leader accused Israel of hampering preparations.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said the goal of current talks with Palestinians is to reach an understanding “as wide as possible in time available” ahead of an upcoming peace conference. Livni, who spoke after a meeting with Rice, heads the Israeli negotiating team working with Palestinian counterparts to prepare for the conference.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Israeli army raids and a decision to renew excavations near a key Jerusalem holy site “are hindering the endeavor to reach a document with substance, to go to the conference.”

Abbas warned that little time is left to prepare for the conference. “We must not waste time,” he said.

Wrapping up four days of shuttle diplomacy, Rice urged Arab countries to “rally” in support of the conference. Arab countries have been hesitant to commit to attending, saying they want guarantees of firm progress.

“We are showing the parties that there is a basis for moving forward,” Rice said. “It is a stop in a process” aimed at achieving a Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel, she added.

Bush: 'Now is the time'
In Washington, President Bush said he wants Israelis and Palestinians to outline their views on creating a Palestinian state at the conference to be held in November or December in Annapolis, Md.

“We believe that now is the time to push ahead with a meeting at which the Israelis and Palestinians will lay out a vision of what a state could look like,” Bush told a White House news conference. “The Palestinians that have been made promises all these years need to see there’s a serious, focused effort to step up a state.”

Bush said a state would give those who reject extremism something to hope for.

Rice started her day with a visit to Jesus’ traditional birthplace in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. Rice, the daughter and granddaughter of Presbyterian ministers, lit a candle in the grotto and paused for prayer.

“Being here at the birthplace of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, has been a very special and moving experience,” said Rice. “It is also, I think, a personal reminder that the prince of peace is still with us.”

She said the three monotheistic religions of the Holy Land, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, “have an opportunity to overcome differences, to put aside grievances, to make religion a power of healing and a power of reconciliation, rather than a power of divisions.”

Rice visits West Bank barrier
In Bethlehem, Rice got a firsthand look at Israel’s contentious West Bank separation barrier, which lines the town on two sides.

Her convoy passed twice through a gate in the towering wall that cuts off Bethlehem from Jerusalem. Also, the hotel where she met civic leaders was just a few yards from the wall and an Israeli watchtower.

Israel started building the West Bank barrier in 2002, initially portraying it as a temporary defense against Palestinian attackers who have killed hundreds of Israelis in recent years. However, the barrier’s meandering route and massive cost suggest it could be used as the basis for a future border.

Bethlehem residents need difficult-to-obtain permits to cross into Jerusalem, and long lines often form during rush hour.

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