Bush Won't See Mideast Deal During Term

In region, Rice aims to keep process on track for Obama's team

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 6, 2008 4:46 PM CST

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Bush Won't See Mideast Deal During Term — United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, left, and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, hold a press conference at the U.S. ambassador to Israel's residence in Herzliya, Israel, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008. The Bush administration conceded Thursday that an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by a... (AP Photo/Pavel Wolberg, Pool)

Israel and the Palestinians won’t likely reach a peace agreement by the 2009 deadline set at the Annapolis negotiations a year ago, the White House said today. The Bush administration began to question the feasibility of the deadline when a corruption scandal ousted PM Ehud Olmert and set the stage for a new leader to be chosen in February, AP reports.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in the Middle East to secure what progress has been made in negotiations for Barack Obama’s administration. “The Annapolis process has laid groundwork” for establishing a Palestinian state, Rice said. “I think that whatever happens by the end of the year, you've got a firm foundation for quickly moving this forward to conclusion.” (More Condoleezza Rice stories.)

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