Iran’s nuclear program, Mideast peace process on Bush-Olmert agenda

WASHINGTON – Israel’s fears that Iran could obtain nuclear weapons and the Israeli government’s attempts to negotiate peace with the Palestinians and Syria are top agenda items when Israel’s beleaguered prime minister, Ehud Olmert, meets President Bush.\nThe most pressing issue for Wednesday’s talks, however, might not even be openly discussed: Olmert’s deteriorating political situation back home, where his popularity has nosedived because of a new corruption scandal and where the end of his term is largely seen as just a matter of time.\nThose developments are jeopardizing Bush’s already ambitious timetable for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement by year’s end and are making it unlikely that Bush or Olmert will be able to shepherd the process to completion.\nFor Olmert, a friendly meeting with a stalwart ally like Bush is a marked change from what he left behind in Israel, where his political allies are conspicuously refusing to come to his defense and jostling for his job.\nTopping the list of discussion points at the Bush-Olmert meeting is Iran, a prime concern for both countries, though each has a different intelligence assessment on the state of Iran’s nuclear program. Israel believes that Iran has not suspended its nuclear weapons program, despite a report to the contrary by U.S. intelligence.\n“I think they both made their points very clear, and Israel has made it clear that they think ... that intelligence is wrong, and that Iran is still pursuing a nuclear weapon,” White House press secretary Dana Perino said ahead of the meeting.\nIsraeli newspapers also have reported that Olmert hopes to acquire a sophisticated U.S. missile defense system, advanced radar and new warplanes.\nIn an indication of what Olmert is likely to tell Bush, the Israeli prime minister told thousands of Israel supporters at the annual convention of the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Tuesday that the Iranian threat “must be stopped by all possible means.”\nOlmert said international sanctions aimed at stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons must be ratcheted up urgently, and he suggested measures like banning Iranian businessmen and financial transactions and imposing sanctions on Iran’s crucial import of gasoline.\nOlmert said the world should see that “the long-term cost of a nuclear Iran greatly outweighs the short-term benefits of doing business with Iran.”