Washington, D.C.-Americans for Peace Now (APN) today expressed disappointment that the meeting between President George Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert did not yield any public statement indicating movement toward improving Israeli-Palestinian relations or toward renewed Middle East peace negotiations.

While Prime Minister Olmert reiterated his commitment to strengthen Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his hope to resume talks with him, Olmert said nothing about how he proposed to strengthen Abbas, about the substance of such possible future talks or about the timeline for opening them. Neither Olmert nor Bush indicated that they made a real effort - let alone reached any agreement - to help stabilize the situation in Gaza; to improve the security or economic situation there; to advance talks with a possible new Palestinian government that is not headed by Hamas or to resume diplomatic activity on the Syrian track.

APN, a Jewish, Zionist organization dedicated to enhancing Israel’s security through peace and to supporting the Israeli Peace Now movement, has been calling on both leaders to do their utmost to prevent the security chaos in Gaza from deteriorating into all-out war. Israel’s Peace Now movement and APN have also been urging the leaders to explore possibilities for progress on the Palestinian and Syrian tracks and to consider a regional conference that would re-launch Arab-Israeli negotiations. Bush and Olmert did not report any progress on any of these issues.

Read more at Americans for Peace Now

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