The U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Israel on Wednesday, starting her visit to the region.
Rice is expected to hold separate meetings with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the Likud party head Benjamin Netanyahu and will then hold a dinner meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
On Thursday, Rice will travel to the West Bank city of Ramallah for meetings with the Palestinian leadership.
According to Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, Rice, during her trip, may present an American draft for a possible Israeli- Palestinian deal ahead of a Mideast peace conference slated for November.
The daily quoted the U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack as saying on Monday that "she (Rice) wants to see what she can do to move that process forward ... all of this is in an effort to lay the foundations for a successful international meeting."
The U.S. is pushing Israeli and Palestinian leaders to reach an agreement before the November conference, but there is still dispute between the two sides over what kind of document should be presented at the conference.
The current dispute has focused on whether the two sides will reach a detailed framework agreement on sensitive final-status issues as the Palestinians want, or merely a general declaration of principles as the Israeli Prime Minister has phrased it.
So far, basic details about the conference such as its timing and agenda remain unclear, leaving key Arab countries in the region, such as the Saudi Arabia, hesitant to attend.
Source: Xinhua
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