(IsraelNN.com) US President George W. Bush arrived in Israel Wednesday afternoon with greatly reduced expectations regarding a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority before he leaves office in January 2009.

Before US President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice left for Israel, Rice said that the likelihood of achieving an agreement before the end of the year is "improbable" but added "it is not impossible." She and the rest of the Bush administration previously had been more optimistic that they could bring about an agreement before the end of the US President's term.

White House press secretary Dana Perino echoed the subdued tone, telling reporters that "while it is exceedingly difficult, it's not impossible" to reach an accord for a new Arab state within Israel's current borders.

President Bush Realistic on Dim Chances for Peace with PA
President Bush himself was clear that he was taking a realistic view of the anti-American sentiment that permeates the Arab culture at present, calling the Middle East the "center of anti-Americanism and hatred."

The President told Yahoo News and Politico that a peace agreement between Israel and the PA "looks distant" but that "Americans at home ought to care for the advance of free societies throughout the Middle East."

National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley told reporters as they were preparing to leave that President Bush might use the celebration of Israel's 60th anniversary to publicly recognize "the hardship" for Arabs in the creation of the Jewish State.

The US President and first lady Laura Bush were greeted by President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as they stepped onto to the tarmac at Ben Gurion International Airport just before noon.

In welcoming the American leader, Olmert noted that the US has supported Israel "in times of hope and in moments of crisis," and noted that President Bush "has been our closest ally and partner." The Prime Minister called the President's visit to Israel an "extraordinary gesture of friendship," possibly a reference to the US President's arrival despite Olmert's awkward political status, given the serious corruption investigation he currently faces.

Bush in return underscored the strong relationship between Israel and the US, which he said was an "enduring alliance to confront terrorists and tyrants."

Hundreds of Arabs Riot Near Ramallah to Mark 'Nakba'
More than 200 Arabs hurled rocks at Israeli soldiers Wednesday morning at the Kalandia security checkpoint near Ramallah. The violence marks the "Nakba" – the Arabic word for "catastrophe", the Arabs' description for the establishment of the State of Israel. Soldiers responded to the riot with tear gas.

The demonstration coincides with the Gregorian calendar date of David Ben Gurion's proclamation of the new nation in 1948 after the British troops turned over their installations to the Arabs.