Officials said Olmert was also expected to meet President-elect Barack
Obama during his visit to Washington. They said the Bush administration has
ordered coordination with Obama to ensure a smooth transfer of power as well
as continuity in U.S. policy in the Middle East. On Nov. 10, Bush and Obama
were scheduled to meet to discuss transition.
"He can count on my complete cooperation as he makes his transition to
the White House," Bush said ahead of the meeting.
On Nov. 8, Ms. Rice concluded meetings with leaders from Israel and the
Palestinian Authority. Officials said the secretary was drafting
recommendations for the incoming Obama administration that would stress the
establishment of a Palestinian state.
"As to advice to the next administration, I'll give that privately," Ms.
Rice said on Nov. 7. "I think it won't be all that different from what
you've been hearing from me here."
On Nov. 6, Olmert telephoned Obama and congratulated him on his
election. An Israeli government statement said the two men discussed U.S.
efforts to achieve an Israeli-Arab peace.
"The two men discussed the longstanding friendship between the United
States and Israel as well as the need to maintain and strengthen it,"
Olmert's office said. "They also discussed the need to continue and advance
the peace process, while maintaining the security of the state of Israel."
Olmert has asked Bush for a guarantee that U.S. military aid would
continue to increase, officials said. In 2008, the administration said
Israel would receive up to $3 billion in annual U.S. military aid into the
next decade.
Officials said the administration determined in the summer of 2008 that
Israel and the PA would be unable to meet a U.S. deadline for the
establishment of a Palestinian state in early 2009. They said the stalemate
could continue for several more months amid the Israeli election campaign
and the crisis between the PA and Hamas.
"We do not think it is likely it will happen before the end of the
year," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said on Nov. 6.
Officials said the administration was drafting proposals for Israeli
military redeployment and transfer of security responsibility to the PA over
the next two months. They said the proposals reflect the recommendations
issued at the Middle East conference in Annapolis, Md. in 2007.
"It is a period of transition both in the United States, and ultimately,
it will be a period of transition in Israel, although there is currently a
caretaker government there," Ms. Rice said. "That means, more than anything,
that the progress that is being made on the ground should be, if anything,
accelerated."
