US & Israeli Leaders to Meet for a Last Time

Monday evening's White House session is expected to focus on the Iranian nuclear threat and assess progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Olmert is meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and national security adviser Stephen Hadley on Monday ahead of a private dinner with Bush.

Just a year ago, Olmert and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, proudly announced the resumption of peace talks after a seven-year hiatus at a summit hosted by Bush in Annapolis, Md. The three set an ambitious target of concluding a final peace deal by the end of 2008.

Despite frequent negotiating sessions, two trips to the region by Bush and eight more by Rice, the sides have little to show for their efforts and have acknowledged the year-end target will not be met.

Still, speaking Sunday to reporters aboard Air Force One as Bush headed back from an economics summit in Peru, Rice said the peace process is "in pretty good shape."

"Even though there was not an agreement by the end of the year, it is really largely because of the political situation in Israel," she said.

Bush, who spent the weekend in Peru at a meeting of Pacific Rim nations, invited Olmert to Washington as part of his final round of talks with world leaders before he leaves office Jan. 20. Olmert, who announced plans to resign in September amid corruption charges, will step down after a successor is chosen Feb. 10.

Israel has identified Tehran's nuclear program as its biggest threat in light of Iran's development of long-range weapons and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated calls for the destruction of the Jewish state. Both the U.S. and Israel say they hope diplomatic pressure resolves the standoff, but have not ruled out military action.

The two leaders also probably will discuss the global financial crisis, Israel's indirect peace talks with Syria and the future of arms and aircraft deals to Israel.

Source: Washington Post