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Ramallah: US President George W. Bush told Palestinians on Thursday that he believed a peace treaty between Palestinians and Israelis would be signed before he leaves office in 2009.
"I believe … there will be a signed peace treaty by the time I leave office." Bush said on his first visit to Ramallah, adding, “I am confident that with proper help the state of Palestine will emerge."
Bush said he is ready to provide political and economic backing but that Palestinian and Israeli leaders must “come together to make hard choices.”
At the press conference, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged Bush to press Israel to ease security restrictions in the occupied West Bank.
Bush said: "I can see the frustrations. But I also understand that people in Israel ... want to know whether there's going to be protection from the violent few who murder."
Israel has said it will not agree on any peace deal unless Palestinian militant attack from Gaza is stopped.
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