US President George W. Bush arrived in Israel on Wednesday at the start of a regional tour aimed at forging a Palestinian - Israeli peace deal and shoring up Arab support amid escalating tensions with Iran. Bush flew in on Air Force One for his first visit to Israel and the West Bank, seeking a foreign-policy triumph in his last year in office, and to rally support of Arab allies in the face of what he calls the Iranian "threat."
Israeli and Palestinian authorities have launched a a massive security operation amid threats of violence, including a call by US member of Al-Qaeda who urged followers to greet Bush with "bombs not flowers."
Upon his arrival, Bush stated he hoped to have "outlines of a state clearly defined, so that at some point in time, the Palestinians who agree that Israel ought to exist and agree that a state ought to live side by side with Israel in peace, have something to be for."
On the eve of his visit, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas agreed to launch negotiations on key issues at the heart of their conflict -- borders, Jewish settlements, Jerusalem and refugees. The two met in an attempt to revitalize talks that have stumbled over Israel's recent plans to expand settlements on occupied lands.
Bush, on the first presidential visit in nine years, is due to meet Olmert and Israeli President Shimon Peres on Wednesday and head to Ramallah for talks with Abbas on Thursday.
Bush took aim at Iran on Tuesday after a confrontation between Iranian vessels and US warships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz. "We viewed it as a provocative act. It is a dangerous situation and they should not have done it, pure and simple," Bush declared in his first public remarks on the weekend incident.
"I am there to reassure and to look people in the eye and say, I believe Iran is a threat; we have a strategy to deal with it; and we want to work with you," Bush told Arabic television station Al-Arabiya. "I believe we can solve this diplomatically," he said. "On the other hand... all options must be on the table in order to make sure diplomacy is effective."
