[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 48 (Monday, December 3, 2007)]
[Pages 1530-1531]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Prior to a Meeting With Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel

November 26, 2007

    President Bush. Mr. Prime Minister, welcome. It's an honor to have 
you back in the Oval Office. Thanks for coming to the Annapolis 
conference. I'm looking forward to continuing our serious dialog with 
you and the President of the Palestinian Authority to see whether or not 
peace is possible. I'm optimistic. I know you're optimistic, and I want 
to thank you for your courage and your friendship. I'm proud your--I'm 
proud of you.
    Prime Minister Olmert. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I'm 
delighted to come with my colleagues to--another time to the Oval 
Office. This time it's different because we are going to have lots of 
participants in what I hope will launch a serious process of 
negotiations between us and the Palestinians. This will be a bilateral 
process, but the international support is very important for us.
    And I thank you for the efforts that you, President, made in order 
to make it possible, and the Secretary of State, together with us, in 
order to come to this point where from we and the Palestinians will sit 
together in Jerusalem and work out something that will be very good to 
create a great hope for our peoples.
    President Bush. Thank you, sir. Thank you all.

[[Page 1531]]

Note: The President spoke at 10:53 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu 
Mazen) of the Palestinian Authority.