Arab nations will give a US-sponsored Middle East peace drive a chance, but are waiting for Israel to prove it is serious about ending the conflict, Arab League chief Amr Moussa said yesterday as US President George W. Bush said Middle East peace was “possible.” “We want to give this opportunity a chance. We have some misgivings, but we are waiting to see what will happen in the next two months,” Moussa told journalists here. “During the next two months we will test the Israelis’ intentions to see if they are serious, or if this is just another game.” Later, Bush said that Middle East peace was “possible” and promised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert his full support in forging it. “I wouldn’t be standing here if I didn’t believe that peace was possible, and they wouldn’t be here either if they didn’t think peace was possible,” Bush said with his two guests standing quietly as his side after White House talks.
With Abbas and Olmert poised to return home to confront skepticism over the peace process, thawed after a seven-year freeze, the US president vowed his full support and urged the world to help. “It’s very important for the international community to support these two leaders during the bilateral negotiations that will take place. And one thing I’ve assured both gentlemen, is that the United States will be actively engaged in the process,” Bush pledged. “We will use our power to help you as you come up with the necessary decisions to lay out a Palestinian state that will live side by side in peace with Israel,” said the US president.