Envoy Tony Blair of the Quartet of Middle East peace brokers urged United States president-elect Barack Obama on Sunday to make peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority a priority. Speaking to British Broadcasting Corporation radio after a meeting of the Quartet in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, the former British prime minister said negotiations on a peace deal required the "energy, commitment and dedication" of the new president. He added, "There is a foundation on which a new American administration and a new Israeli prime minister, with the Palestinians and ourselves in the international community, can build."
Democratic Illinois congressman Rahm Emanuel, the head of Obama's transition team, told the American Broadcasting Company's "This Week" that the Obama administration's focus will be on the economy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.