U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a news conference Wednesday that the summit in Annapolis could take place in December and not in November. She also tried to lower expectations from the summit.

"No one thinks we will be able to solve the problems between the Israelis and the Palestinians in November," she told reporters after meeting Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. She said an exact date for the regional diplomatic summit had not been set.

"I continue to say that the summit will be held in the fall," she explained. "And there are two months in the fall, November and December. I want to stress that the summit is the first point in an ongoing process. There will be an international conference… but there has to be a day after."