President George W. Bush and Israel’s acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday that the Middle East peace process that has so far failed to yield lasting results would continue after the two leaders leave office early next year.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice helped kickstart peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians that had been frozen for seven years at new talks in Annapolis, Maryland, last November. But negotiations have made little apparent progress despite intensive meetings between Israeli and Palestinian leaders and strong US backing.

The Israeli and US leaders discussed the renewed peace process that was launched almost exactly a year ago in Annapolis, but the US administration has backed off its goal of clinching a Palestinian-Israeli peace deal by the time it leaves office in January.

Chances of a breakthrough seem particularly dim as Israel heads for early elections in February and the Palestinians remain deeply divided between Western-backed president Mahmoud Abbas and the Islamist Hamas movement.

A two-state solution ‘the only possible way’

Despite the setbacks and slow starts, both Olmert and Bush seem optimistic that continued efforts will someday yield results in the form of a Palestinian state.

"I believe that vision is alive and needs to be worked on," Bush said. "We strongly believe that Israel will benefit by having a Palestinian state, a democracy on her border that works for peace."

Olmert was even more emphatic about the need for a Palestinian homeland, saying the Annapolis process will continue because "a two-state solution is the only possible way to resolve the conflict in the Middle East."
   
Nevertheless, the United States, Israel and the Palestinians have all acknowledged there will not be a peace accord in place before Bush vacates the White House on Jan. 20, missing the target date set at the Annapolis peace conference last year.  

Although US President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to continue to support the talks to end the 60-year conflict, the prospects for the process launched at Annapolis remain shrouded in ambiguity and success seems far from certain.