BUSH ANNOUNCES PEACE IN OUR TIME

NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN COULD NOT BE REACHED FOR COMMENT.

Bush announces joint pledge but gaps still remain
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (JTA) -- Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas may have bridged the necessary gaps to issue a joint commitment to pursue peace, but their words in Annapolis revealed the substantial distance they have yet to travel.

President Bush announced the hoped-for agreement early in the day on Tuesday, saying the Israeli and Palestinian leaders had jointly pledged to endeavor to achieve peace by the end of 2008 under close U.S. supervision.

But the gaps at the U.S.-convened talks Tuesday in Annapolis, Md., were manifest in the precedents each side cited in their speeches.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, said a peace agreement must be consistent with Resolution 194, the 1949 U.N. measure that called for a return of Palestinian refugees to their homes in the then-newly established Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the agreement would be based in part on Bush's April 2004 letter to then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon -- a document that rejected any such return of refugees.

The two speeches differed in tone as well. Olmert, while adamant in defending Israel's right to security, was expansive toward the Palestinians, including the refugees and their descendants. Abbas, by contrast, acknowledged his obligation to combat terrorism in defensive, almost defiant terms.

Olmert's speech marked the first time Israel formally committed to helping solve the Palestinian refugee problem and, extraordinarily, went so far as to implicitly acknowledge Palestinian suffering as a cause of terrorism.

"For dozens of years, many Palestinians have been living in camps, disconnected from the environment in which they grew, wallowing in poverty, neglect, alienation, bitterness, and a deep, unrelenting sense of deprivation," he said. "I know that this deprivation is one of the deepest foundations which fomented the ethos of hatred towards us. We are not indifferent to this suffering. We are not oblivious to the tragedies you have experienced."

Olmert envisioned Israel joining an international effort "to assist these Palestinians in finding a proper framework for their future, in the Palestinian state which will be established in the territories agreed upon between us."

He went on to say, " I have no doubt that the reality that was created in our region in 1967 will be changed in a very significant way. It will be as difficult as the netherworld for many of us. But it is inevitable. I know it. Many of my people know it. We are ready for it."

Abbas cast his need to combat terrorism in terms of defending Palestinian rights.

"I wish to emphasize that we shall pursue our obligations under the 'road map' in order to combat chaos, violence, terrorism, and to ensure security, order and the rule of law," Abbas said, referring to the road map, the effort President Bush launched in 2003 to end terrorism and establish a Palestinian state.

"The government of the Palestinian National Authority works tirelessly and without any wavering under extremely difficult conditions to achieve this noble goal that represents first and foremost a Palestinian national interest before it becomes a political requirement that is imposed by signed accords or the road map," he said.

YOU'D THINK BUSH'S PREPARATION SESSION WOULD HAVE INCLUDED WHAT THE NAMES OF THE LEADERS ARE: Less than a minute into his opening address, Bush got tongue-tied andmuffed the names of both the Mideast leaders standing at his sides. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert became "Ehud Ulmmm," and PalestinianPresident Mahmoud Abbas became "Ma-Mock-Mahmoud Abbas." (SFGate)