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"Our focus hasn’t been on that. I know that there has been a lot of attention, especially in the Israeli press and some international press, about Israeli politics," said spokeswoman Dana Perino.
"But President Bush has to keep his focus on the big picture, and so he is not spending a lot of time worried about that, he is focused on how do we get the Palestinian state defined before the end of the year," said Perino.
Bush and Olmert were due to meet Wednesday for talks that have yet to appear on the "I think that our goal, for whenever an Israeli leader comes, is to, one, reaffirm out commitment to The other key aim is "to push, especially now that we are in the middle of the negotiations with the Palestinians -- or, I should say, the Israelis are in the middle of the negotiations with the Palestinians -- on trying to define a state before the end of the year," said Perino. In a speech to the top "We still believe we have a chance to reach an agreement on the basic contours of a peaceful Palestinian state. I know that this is ambitious," Rice told the annual policy conference of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). "But if we can pursue this goal by the end of the year, it will be an historic breakthrough." In the past, Rice said the goal she mentioned -- a deal on the contours of a Palestinian state -- would last into the next administration. "The goal itself, though, will endure beyond the current Olmert arrived in The embattled premier, who refused talk to reporters onboard his plane, was to meet Rice later Tuesday before making a keynote speech to the AIPAC meeting. The talks were expected to focus on the ongoing Middle East peace talks, which have made little progress since their relaunching in a The trip offers Olmert a brief respite from his woes back home, where two key cabinet allies are calling on him to quit over suspicions he unlawfully obtained vast sums of money from a The White House criticized the plans on Monday saying "we don’t believe that any more settlements should be built" because "it exacerbates the tensions when it comes to the negotiations with the Palestinians". The Israeli premier held a new meeting with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas just hours before his departure for Other than the Palestinian track, Olmert will also brief Bush on The discussions will also evolve over efforts to thwart He was also expected to discuss a military aid package that Bush offered during his visit to During his visit, Olmert is also expected to meet