SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — Three years after his predecessor failed to broker Middle East peace at a summit here, President Bush came to Egypt Monday night vowing to devote enough time and energy to a new peace process that will enable Israel and a new Palestinian nation to live side by side.
"My expectations in the Middle East are to call the respective parties to their responsibility to achieve peace, and to make it very clear that my country and I will put in as much time as necessary to achieve the vision of two states living side by side in peace," Bush said during a joint appearance with President Jacques Chirac of France before leaving the Alpine resort town of Evian, where he attended the Group of Eight summit of the leading industrialized nations.
"I fully understand this is going to be a difficult process. I fully understand we need to work with our friends, such as France, to achieve the process," Bush added. "I know we won't make progress unless people assume their responsibilities."
Bush arrived in Egypt and prepared to try his hand at a problem that has repeatedly foiled world leaders: ending the violence between the Israelis and Palestinians and creating two independent states. He was scheduled to meet today with Arab leaders — including the Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas — in a summit that amounts to a coronation for Abbas, with whom Bush has said he will deal directly, sidestepping longtime leader Yasser Arafat.
Wednesday, Bush flies to Aqaba, Jordan, for meetings with Abbas and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel, who will take their first-ever photograph together. White House officials had left a caveat in place by saying they could cancel the summit if there was a major terrorist attack on Israel, but after successive meetings between Sharon and Abbas in Israel over the past two weeks, U.S. advisers were cautiously optimistic there is a chance for progress.
"The first message is, I will dedicate the time and energy to move the process forward," Bush said. "And I think we'll make some progress. I know we're making progress."
For the first time ever, Sharon last week used the word "occupation" to describe the Israeli presence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip — causing an uproar among right-wing Israelis who support maintaining settlement outposts in the two regions in order to prevent them from becoming part of an independent Palestine.
Sharon has been negotiating with U.S. officials over the wording of a statement that can be released at the summit. Rather than use the word "occupation," he is likely to acknowledge Palestine's right to exist, according to published reports Monday. In exchange, Israel hopes the Palestinians will agree to a statement confirming Israel's right to exist as a "Jewish state," which would deny Palestinian refugees the right to return to their former homeland as a majority and wipe out the Jewish government in an election.
The guest list in both Sharm el-Sheikh and Aqaba offers some clues about potentially shifting alliances within the Arab world and the Israeli government: Arafat, under virtual house arrest in Ramallah, was not welcome at the Arab summit and is not attending. Israel's finance minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, declined to travel to the Middle East summit in Jordan because he does not support the so-called "road map" to peace, signaling tensions within Sharon's right-wing Likud Party.
Bush had avoided the Middle East altogether during his first two years in office, as the second Palestinian uprising — or intifadah, which began in September 2000 — raged on in the region. But after extensive urging by Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, as well as immense pressure from Arab leaders to get involved in quelling the violence after waging war in Iraq, Bush decided to take a significant risk, investing his personal clout in a peace process that frustrated Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, the two last presidents to get so deeply involved.
In his meeting earlier Monday with Chirac, which appeared pleasant when reporters were allowed to catch a glimpse of the two leaders Monday, Bush discussed the Middle East at length, a White House official said. Bush sought Chirac's advice on "how you deal with Syria and Lebanon," and had "a good, long discussion about it," the official said.
From the leaders' public statements, it seemed they had used the peace process as a vehicle to repair their relationship and move beyond their disagreement over Iraq.
The two men sat side by side on the patio of the Royal Hotel, a five-star resort overlooking Lake Geneva, where Bush also exchanged words with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany, another critic of the war in Iraq. The conversations all seemed amicable and although Bush was far from effusive about the visit, saying only that his expectations for the G-8 summit "have been met," there was little evidence of the rancor over Iraq that had been so apparent a few months ago.
Of Chirac, Bush said, "He's a man who knows a lot about the Middle East. He has got good judgment about the Middle East."
Chirac said he and other European leaders supported Bush's peace efforts in the Middle East and in the rebuilding of Iraq.
"We support this action without reservations," Chirac said, adding he offered his American counterpart "sincere wishes" for success.
Bush, noting the harsh rhetoric exchanged between Washington and Paris over the U.S.-led war in Iraq, said such debates can be overcome.
"I know there's a lot of people in both our countries wondering whether or not we could actually sit down and have a comfortable conversation. And the answer is, absolutely," he said. "We can have disagreements, but that doesn't mean we have to be disagreeable to each other. And so I'm very glad I came and would say, absolutely, that this has been a very helpful and positive meeting."
After meeting with Sharon and Abbas, Bush will travel to Doha, Qatar, to meet with U.S. forces who fought in Iraq. This leg of the journey marks Bush's first trip to a Muslim nation as president, and his first to the Middle East since he was governor of Texas.
Contributing: Dan Ephron.