Leaders Hopeful at Outset of Mideast Peace Summit

(Sept. 1) -- President Barack Obama and assembled Mideast leaders expressed hope tonight that the latest round of peace talks will succeed where past efforts failed, and a determination to defy the terrorism and historical grudges that have scuttled previous bids for a lasting accord between Israel and the Palestinians.

"We don't seek a brief interlude between two wars. We don't seek a temporary respite between outbursts of terror. We seek a peace that will end the conflict between us once and for all," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, until recently a reluctant participant in the Obama administration's regional diplomacy and a contentious negotiator during the Clinton administration's peace efforts.

Turning to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the leaders of Egypt and Jordan ahead of a private dinner at the White House, Netanyahu addressed Abbas as "my partner in peace" and said he is ready to compromise with a people that "shares this land with us."

"I've been making the case for Israel all my life. But I didn't come here today to make an argument," Netanyahu said. "I didn't come here today to play a blame game where even the winners lose. Everybody loses if there's no peace. ... I didn't come here to find excuses or to make them. I came here to find solutions."

Obama said he was "hopeful, cautiously hopeful, but hopeful," after holding bilateral meetings all day and ahead of formal direct negotiations that kick off Thursday morning with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as moderator.

But it was King Abdullah of Jordan who captured the urgency that permeated the public remarks at the White House throughout the day.

"Too many people have lost faith in our ability to bring them the peace they want. Radicals and terrorists have exploited frustrations to feed hatred and ignite wars. The whole world has been dragged into regional conflicts that cannot be addressed effectively until Arabs and Israelis find peace," the king said. "All eyes are upon us. The direct negotiations that will start tomorrow must show results -- and sooner rather than later. Time is not on our side."

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the fifth participating leader, offered to host the next round of talks in a process Obama has given a one-year deadline to conclude.

Blood and Diplomacy

Obama opened his first major foray into Middle East diplomacy less than 24 hours after four Israelis were shot to death in the West Bank, including a pregnant woman, in an attack claimed by Hamas. And he vowed that terrorism won't deter the latest round of peace talks.

But the attack demonstrated how much violence has been the dominating factor over four decades of U.S. peacemaking attempts.

"The tragedy that we saw yesterday, where people were gunned down on the street by terrorists who are purposely trying to undermine these talks, is an example of what we're up against," Obama said during an unscheduled early-afternoon appearance with Netanyahu to discuss the assault.

"The message should go out to Hamas and everybody else who is taking credit for these heinous crimes that this is not going to stop us from not only ensuring a secure Israel but also securing a longer-lasting peace in which people throughout the region can take a different course," Obama said.

Netanyahu, who has responded to terrorist attacks in the past by breaking off peace talks when he was Israel's leader in the late 1990s, said he wouldn't be doing that today but called security "a fundamental element, an important foundation of the peace that we seek and work for."

"We left Lebanon, we got terror. We left Gaza, we got terror. We want to ensure that territory we concede will not be turned into a third Iranian-sponsored terror enclave aimed at the heart of Israel," he said.

Looking at Netanyahu, Abbas reiterated his condemnation of the attacks and said he recognized the "the difficulties, challenges and obstacles" facing both sides.

But Abbas' ability to rein in Hamas is a major source of doubt for the Israelis.

Israel has one demand above all others in the talks: an end to the violence on its borders and its streets that has plagued the nation since its origin more than 60 years ago. That is the "fundamental element," as Netanyahu put it, that Palestinian leaders have been unable to guarantee in earlier peace efforts.

With U.S. help, the Palestinian Authority has been able to reduce violence in the West Bank, but Tuesday's attack showed that the territory isn't beyond the reach of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.

With its remorseless opposition to Israel's existence -- and support from Iran -- Hamas is likely to continue to use violence to veto peace efforts even as the U.S. hopes to eventually draw the group into the process.

Mahmoud Zahar, a Gaza-based leader of the group, made clear today in an interview with AP Television News that Hamas isn't about to give up its fight.

"Our resistance is continuous," Zahar said. "We have to concentrate on the West Bank in order to achieve [its] liberation."

A Compromise on Settlements?

Meanwhile, the biggest test of Netanyahu's sincerity will be whether he can meet the Palestinians' most immediate demands.

Abbas wants good-faith promises that Israel will maintain a 10-month-old moratorium, set to expire Sept. 26, on new construction of settlements in the West Bank, an issue that goes to the heart of Palestinian aspirations for a viable state unfettered by Israeli expansions and security restrictions that color the lives of all Palestinian residents in the West Bank.

He also called on Israel to release thousands of Palestinian prisoners.

These were just the most pressing issues for the opening round of talks. Others include the status of Jerusalem, which each side claims as its capital.

With both parties historically resistant to compromise, and Hamas likely to escalate attacks, Netanyahu, Abbas and their teams will need to earn one another's trust in the opening sessions.

"Years of mistrust will not disappear overnight," Obama acknowledged at a brief appearance in the Rose Garden after the bilateral meetings. "Building confidence will require painstaking diplomacy and trust by the parties. After all, there's a reason that the two-state solution has eluded previous generations -- this is extraordinarily complex and extraordinarily difficult."

Obama said "only Israelis and Palestinians can make the difficult choices and build the consensus at home for progress," and that "what the rest of us can do is to support those conversations, support those talks, support those efforts."

But King Abdullah, a veteran like his late father of past failed peace efforts, called for a more strenuous White House participation.

"Mr. President, we need your support as a mediator, honest broker and a partner," he said. "If hopes are disappointed again, the price of failure will be too high for all."