Israel said today it was confident US President George W. Bush's Middle East policy and commitment to halting militant violence remained unchanged following his talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"There is no room for doubt, President Bush is opposed to terror. I don't think he would compromise on this," Vice Premier Shimon Peres said.
At a White House news conference with Mr Abbas yesterday, Mr Bush did not repeat demands the Palestinian Authority disarm and dismantle militant groups, a core Israeli condition for resuming negotiations on Palestinian statehood.
"I suppose he (Bush) did this in private talks (with Abbas)", Mr Peres told Israel Radio. Israel also shrugged off as nothing new Bush's call for a halt to the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, a key clause -- along with a crackdown on Palestinian militants - of a US-backed peace "road map".
"When they (the Americans) want to strengthen Abu Mazen a little, they emphasise the road map, the need to return to negotiations, (and they mention) settlements," Israeli Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said.
"When they want to strengthen our side - (Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon - they talk about the need to silence terror completely," Olmert said on Army Radio. "Let's see things in the proper perspective," he said.
"The United States will not deviate from its position (on Middle East peace) and Israel can feel comfortable with it."
Mr Abbas, the first Palestinian president to visit Washington since peace talks with Israel collapsed in 2000, declared a ceasefire along with Sharon in February and persuaded militant groups to agree to a "period of calm" until the end of the year.
The Palestinian leader has said he wants to co-opt militant factions rather than confront them, a policy Sharon described during his own visit to the United States this week as appeasement that would backfire.