Israel's foreign minister has arrived in the United States amid worries that the Jewish state's main ally could shift course after a report urged Washington to redouble Mideast peacemeaking efforts. Tzipi Livni will meet with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other officials during her visit, which will focus on the repercussions of a report released Wednesday by the Iraq Study Group, her office said.
"This trip will be an occasion to review with her counterparts the report and to discuss its meaning," a foreign ministry spokesman said.
That report said progress towards Arab-Israeli peace was key to saving Iraq.
It also called for direct US talks with two of Israel's most fearsome foes, Syria and Iran, the latter of which is believed to be steaming ahead in its bid for nuclear weapons.
A day after receiving the top-level commission's report, the United States and Britain signalled the start of a renewed diplomatic push in the region.
President George W. Bush promised "concerted efforts to advance the cause of peace" and said British Prime Minister Tony Blair would soon travel to the region for talks with Israel and the Palestinians.
The prime minister's visit was to set the stage for Rice, in early 2007, to make her eighth trip in two years to Israel and the Palestinian territories, Rice's spokesman said.
The renewed focus on Mideast peacemaking and growing domestic pressure on US leaders to end the imbroglio in Iraq has Israelis worrying about a possible policy shift by Bush, who for six years has largely ignored the intricacies of Mideast peacemaking.
"The fact that he has decided to support Blair's visit to the region and to present this trip as a joint mission of Britain and the United States shows that Bush intends to at least try to change his policy," Israel's Yediot Aharonot daily wrote Friday.
The newspaper went on to slam the Iraq report, accusing its chief authors James Baker and Lee Hamilton of ignoring Israel while preparing the report.
"If the truth be told, they barely paid any attention to us," the newspaper lamented. "For 14 years, Israel enjoyed warm and pampering attention, under Clinton and Bush. Now, in light of the catastrophe in Iraq, Baker and Hamilton wish to restore us to our proper proportions."
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has also expressed disatisfaction with the report's recommendations. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, he said US problems in Iraq "are entirely independent of the controversy between us and the Palestinians."
He also said that restarting peace talks with Syria, as recommended by the report, was unlikely in the near future.
In statements sure to allay Israeli concerns, Bush has rebuffed some of the report's recommendations and maintained his insistence that Damascus and Tehran renounce support for extremists and pledge support for Baghdad's fledgling government and that Iran freeze sensitive nuclear work before any direct talks.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, meanwhile, have both welcomed the Iraq Study Group's recommendation that Bush revitalise Arab-Israeli peacemaking efforts.
On the ground, a Palestinian rocket struck southern Israel on Friday, causing neither injuries nor damage. It is the 18th rocket to hit the Jewish state since a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip took effect 13 days ago.
That truce agreement had rekindled international optimism about restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, dormant since the outbreak of the second Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, in September 2000.
