Special report: Palestine-Israel Relations

    By Xu Gang

    JERUSALEM, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice headed for Egypt on Saturday after concluding her three-day trip to Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan, during which she conceded that the Annapolis goal is unlikely to be met by the end of the year, while denying that the peace push was a failure.

    Rice, who arrived in Israel Thursday afternoon for her 8th trip to the Middle East since Annapolis conference, has conceded that reaching an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by the year's end is no longer possible.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (L) speaks at a joint press conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Tel Aviv, Nov. 6, 2008.(Xinhua Photo/Pavel Wolberg) Photo Gallery>>>

    She told a joint press conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Thursday that political uncertainty in Israel is the main complication to the Annapolis goal.

    Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is being forced from office by a corruption scandal, and the Jewish state is set to hold new parliamentary elections.

    Under the U.S. pressure, Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed last November at an U.S.-hosted international conference in Maryland's Annapolis to relaunch the stalled peace talks aimed to hammer out a comprehensive peace treaty before U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office in January.

    However, since Annapolis, the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have made little substantial progress due to deep rifts on sensitive issues. With time running out, it is highly unlikely to reach Annapolis' target.

    Although Rice refused to absolutely rule out the chance of an agreement by year's end, her remarks reflect the first time that a Bush administration official has publicly not held out hope that the deadline could be met.

    The White House also said on Thursday that a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians is not likely before January.

    "We do not think that it's likely," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said in Washington when asked if there is any possibility for Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA)to reach a peace agreement before the end of the year.

    The spokeswoman added that "it's important that we maintain momentum for the negotiations. Over the past year, we have laid some very good groundwork for the Palestinians and the Israelis to be able to continue their discussions."

    In Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, top officials from the International Quartet, grouping the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union, will be briefed on Sunday by Livni and top Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei on the status of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

    Livni said earlier this week that she plans to tell the conference, which is held to mark the anniversary of the Annapolis conference, that the Jewish state will not sign any interim peace agreement with the Palestinians.

    While conceding that Annapolis goal is unlikely to be met, Rice Friday denied that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process sponsored by Bush was a failure, saying it should lay the ground for an eventual deal.

    "We knew...that if that agreement was not reached by the end of the year, there would be those who would say that the Annapolis process, the negotiations, had failed. In fact, it is quite the opposite. The Annapolis process has laid the foundations for the eventual establishment of the state of Palestine," Rice told a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

    She told reporters that "while we may not yet be at the finish line, I am quite certain that if Palestinians and Israelis stay on the Annapolis course, they are going to cross that finish line and can do so relatively soon."

    Earlier, Rice also said that the situation is a constraint on the ability of any government to conclude a deal, though "it is our expectation that the Annapolis process has laid groundwork which should make possible the establishment of a Palestinian state when the political circumstances permit."

    "I think that whatever happens by the end of the year, you've got a firm foundation for quickly moving this forward to conclusion," she said, adding it is important to maintain momentum and support for the negotiations so that new governments in both Israel and the U.S. have a firm foundation to continue the talks next year.

    Abbas agreed with Rice's comments on the Annapolis goal, saying that the past year has not been in vain.

    "We have not lost time. We have used every minute," Abbas said, adding "that will allow us to move with a new (U.S.) administration and a new Israeli administration to peace."

    He called on U.S. President-elect Barack Obama not to waste anytime in getting involved in the Israel-Palestinian peace process.

    Abbas, meanwhile, complained to Rice about continued construction in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

    In response, Rice criticized settlement activity, saying that "both actions and announcements (of new plans) are damaging to the atmosphere of the negotiations."