RAMALLAH, West Bank - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice glossed over differences between Israel and the Palestinians about whether an upcoming peace conference will tackle the hardest issues in their six-decade conflict, saying Thursday the U.S.-sponsored session will be a serious push toward forming an independent Palestinian state.
The Palestinians want the fall international conference to yield an outline for a peace deal, complete with timetable, while Israel wants a vaguer declaration of intent.
"We need a meeting that advances the cause of a Palestinian state," Rice said following talks with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank.
Rice said both sides are addressing "critical, core issues" in preparation for the meeting, expected in mid-November in the United States. She was not specific about whether that means the three questions that have hung over past peace efforts: Final borders of a Palestinian state, the status of disputed Jerusalem and the rights of Palestinian refugees.
President Bush in July called for a conference to break the deadlock in the Mideast peace process, but the lack of an official agenda, location and timing for the meeting worries Arab leaders the United States wants to recruit as backers for a renewed peace process.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said last week his country would probably not attend the conference if it did not tackle substantive issues, while Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has said he is concerned the meeting would amount to nothing without proper preparation.
Israel has said it is premature to discuss the thorniest issues.
Arab diplomats have compared the quiet U.S. planning for the session, and the vague statements from U.S. officials about the goals for the meeting, with the intensive shuttle diplomacy and U.S. arm-twisting that has preceded past peace summits.
Still, after years of deadlock and a hands-off approach by the Bush administration, peace efforts gained momentum this year. Israel, the United States and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are trying to use the internal Palestinian political split as a springboard.
The militant Hamas group took over the Gaza Strip in June, setting up rival governments in Gaza and the West Bank and ending a partnership government with Palestinian moderates that the United States and Israel had found unpalatable.
Moderates, led by Abbas, now control the larger West Bank, and the United States and Israel are trying to make the territory a model for a future independent Palestinian state.
With Hamas out of government, international aid is flowing and Israel has made limited gestures to boost Abbas' political standing and street credibility.
Rice, beginning what aides have said will be intensive shuttle diplomacy ahead of the fall conference, said both sides are working on an agreement that would guide their negotiations toward a final peace deal.
"The issue is to move the process forward through a document that will help to lay a foundation so that there can be serious negotiations on the establishment of a Palestinian state as soon as possible," Rice said. "That's the purpose."
It is a distraction, Rice said, to focus on "how detailed, how not detailed" the agreement would be.
Rice sandwiched her meetings in Ramallah between two sessions in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Olmert indicated ahead of Rice's visit that there would be no major breakthroughs in peacemaking ahead of the U.S.-sponsored peace conference, prompting a Palestinian threat to skip the gathering.
Olmert and Abbas have broached the borders, Jerusalem and refugee topics in recent talks, but the Palestinians have been pressing for greater Israeli commitment ahead of a conference.
The United States, acting as shepherd and host for the conference, has been deliberately vague about almost all its contours -- including the agenda, attendance list and even the exact date.
At a press conference with Rice, Abbas said he believes some Arab countries are hesitant to confirm their attendance because the objectives are not clear.
"I think many issues need to be clarified and I think it's the duty of the hosts of the conference," he said, referring to the U.S. "When things are clarified, I think the Arab countries, and I'm not ... speaking on their behalf, will attend that conference."
An Abbas aide, Nabil Amr, said Rice had told Abbas that the three hardest issues would be discussed.
"The meeting was successful from our point of view, because Rice has reassured President Abbas that the conference will address the core issues," Amr said.
It is not clear whether Abbas can deliver a peace deal, especially if he holds no effective control over one of the territories that would make up a Palestinian state, or whether Olmert has the political will and maneuvering room to make difficult concessions to the Palestinians.
The Hamas rulers of Gaza played down the importance of the conference. "Any agreement that might result from the U.S.-designed peace conference this fall will not be binding for the Palestinian people," Hamas government spokesman Taher Nunu told the local Al Quds radio station in Gaza.
