KUWAIT, Jan 11: US President George W. Bush wrapped up his mission to Israel and the occupied West Bank on Friday, emboldened enough to have predicted a peace treaty within a year but with no major breakthroughs for his efforts.

President Bush flew out of Tel Aviv after painting an upbeat picture from talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas intended to build on a US-hosted international peace conference in November.

Sending a symbolic message, Mr Bush ended the first leg of a week-long Middle East tour by visiting the Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus is believed to have intoned “blessed are the peacemakers”, and the ruins of Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee.

Challenging sceptics, Mr Bush had said on Thursday there would be a signed peace treaty before he left office in January 2009.

Mr Olmert’s spokesman said Israel endorsed Mr Bush’s call for a rapid peace deal but made clear it did not see the final establishment of a Palestinian state this year. Mark Regev said Israel hoped for a “historic agreement” in 2008 that would outline the framework of a future Palestinian state, with implementation contingent on Palestinians meeting security commitments.

While Mr Abbas and Mr Olmert praised Mr Bush’s peace bid, neither offered significant concessions to the US leader, who until recently had mostly shunned hands-on Middle East diplomacy.

Mr Bush seemed to harden his tone towards US ally Israel, urging an end to “occupation” in the West Bank, something he has not done often and rarely in such pointed fashion. At the same time, he pressed Mr Abbas to rein in militants and reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to Israel’s security.

He left Mr Abbas, whose Fatah group lost control of the Gaza Strip to Hamas in June, and Mr Olmert, who is also politically weak, with an admonition to make difficult choices.

In travels over the next few days, Mr Bush said he would urge Arab allies to “begin to reach out” to Israel to help nurture the peace process.—Reuters