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JERUSALEM-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he may be able to make peace with the Palestinians by the end of 2008 as the United States vowed to defend Israel's security during the difficult process."If we act decisively together, we and the Palestinians, there is a chance for us to reach real achievements, maybe even before the end of President (George W.) Bush's term," he said at the Saban Forum think-tank in Jerusalem."There is no intention to drag out the negotiations without end. There is no reason to again hit the foot-dragging that characterised our talks in the past," the premier said.Israel and the Palestinians have been engaged in intensive talks in an effort to draft a joint statement outlining a solution to the decades-old conflict ahead of a meeting in Annapolis, Maryland expected later this year.The two sides plan to launch intensive bilateral talks on a permanent agreement following the international meeting, aimed at reviving a peace process that has been dormant for seven years. The Palestinians have repeatedly demanded that the joint statement include a clear timetable for the negotiations, but Israel has insisted on a looser document based on a 2003 peace blueprint known as the roadmap.At the same event US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice vowed to defend Israel as it pushes ahead with the peace process, saying that it was time for all sides to make the difficult decisions necessary for a lasting peace."All Israelis should be confident that America is fully behind you, that we are fully committed to your security and that you can thus be bold in your pursuit of peace," she said.Rice, on her eighth visit to the region since the begining of the year, warned that if peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians flounder, extremists would take over the Palestinian leadership."If we do not act now to show the Palestinians a way forward, others will show them a way forward," Rice said. "Failure is simply not an option."Around 2,000 Jewish settlers protested against the talks in central Jerusalem, saying they would lead to painful concessions on the fate of the city, which they call the indivisible, eternal capital of Israel."We know perfectly well that with the concessions envisaged by Olmert, Hamas will end up in the West Bank and the heart of Israel will be within the range of their rockets," Shaul Goldstein, a protest leader, said.The Islamist movement Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since a bloody takeover in which security forces loyal to Abbas were defeated nearly five months ago, has also rejected the conference."It's well-known goals are normalisation with the Arabs, the hardening of internal divisions and the preparation for the coming attack on Iran and Gaza and Syria and Lebanon," Hamas leader Ismail Haniya said in Gaza City on Sunday.Special Middle East envoy Tony Blair nevertheless insisted that despite the differences between Israel and the Palestinians, everyone involved in the negotiations knows what a final agreement will look like."The irony is the final settlement is not hard to see. It is visible in the distance, the house on the hill. But the path to it is utterly fraught," he said.Israeli negotiators and their Palestinian counterparts have been divided for weeks over a joint document which will form the basis of future negotiations, and until now have not written a word.Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has pushed for a document with a timetable that addresses the most hotly contested issues of the conflict-the borders of a Palestinian state and the fate of Jerusalem and the refugees.On Sunday, Olmert said he was not opposed to discussing the so-called final status issues, but that he preferred to wait until after the conference that Washington hopes to convene before the end of the year."Annapolis will be a stepping stone for continued, serious, deep negotiations that will not overlook any topic," Olmert said.No firm date has yet been announced for the US meeting, and Arab powers likely to be invited to the conference have been sceptical about its chances of success without any serious effort to address the concerns of all involved.On Monday, Rice will meet Abbas, Ahmed Qorei who heads his negotiating team and prime minister Salam Fayyad in the West Bank political capital of Ramallah.The Palestinians have asked that Rice put more pressure on Israel, insisting that Israeli security will only come with a larger political settlement."The statements of some Israeli officials that consider Israeli security more important than the establishment of a Palestinian state hinder an agreement," Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP."The establishment of a Palestinian state is what will guarantee the security and stability of the whole region," he added.As in the days of Noah...
