Condoleezza Rice arrived in Israel to press the Israelis and Palestinians to come up with an outline for continued peace efforts.
The U.S. secretary of state landed Thursday afternoon in Israel on her eighth visit since last year’s Annapolis peace conference. The Bush administration had been pressing the two sides to reach a peace agreement by the end of the year.
Rice will meet in Israel with lame duck Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as the Israeli and Palestinian chief negotiators.
Rice also is scheduled to visit Egypt and Jordan in an effort to hold on to the Arab world’s support for the talks.
