US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Israel on Thursday at the start of a Middle East trip to push Israel and Palestinians to adopt the outlines of a peace deal. "I think at some point it will be important to work to wrap all of that work up, one way or another," she was quoted as saying on Thursday.
According to AFP, Rice admitted Israel and the Palestinians may be unable to achieve the goal of a peace agreement by the time Barack Obama moves into the White House on January 20, and pointed out the peace process has been affected by Israel's decision to hold snap elections on February 20. "Obviously Israel is in the middle of elections and that is a constraint on the ability of any government to conclude what is the core conflict for Israel and the Palestinians," Rice said.
However, Rice remained upbeat about the future of the peace process even though it has produced no tangible results in the past year. "I think we can sustain momentum," said Rice. "I think that whatever happens by the end of the year, you've got a firm foundation for quickly moving forward to a conclusion," she said.
© 2008 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
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