Special report: Crisis between Israel and Palestine

    JERUSALEM, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said on Sunday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will stress in his meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday that the convergence plan would only be a last resort.

    "Ideally we want to continue on the path of the roadmap and the prime minister will discuss with President Bush ways to continue with the plan," Peres told Israel Radio.

    Peres was on his way to the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to attend a Middle East meeting of the World Economic Forum, on the sidelines of which he will meet with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

    Olmert vowed to set Israel's final borders by 2010 and the new government would pursue the convergence plan, under which Israel would withdraw isolated settlements in the West Bank but keep bigger ones.

    Olmert is set to leave on Sunday for Washington for his first official visit to the United States as prime minister, where he is scheduled to meet with President Bush on Tuesday.

    Political sources in Jerusalem said on Saturday night that Olmert was set to assure Bush that he was a fully committed partner to the president's vision and the roadmap peace plan for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

    According to the sources, Olmert will tell Bush that his convergence plan for the West Bank is in line with the president's vision and the roadmap.

    In talks between Israeli and U.S. officials ahead of Olmert's visit, it was agreed that Bush will express support for "new Israeli ideas" that could promote the two-state solution in the event that talks between the sides run aground, the Ha'aretz daily said on Sunday.

    Speaking prior to the visit, Israel's Ambassador to the United States, Danny Ayalon, said he believes that the Bush administration would accept the convergence plan, just as it had the disengagement from the Gaza Strip.

    The Americans have, however, asked Olmert to hold off for a few months before beginning work on the unilateral convergence, he said.

    In the interim, Israel is expected to propose to the Palestinians that they return to the negotiating table for talks on implementing the roadmap.

    As a prerequisite for such talks, the Hamas-led Palestinian government is asked to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements. Enditem