Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and US President George W. Bush met at the White House in Washington, DC Tuesday and discussed issues of mutual concern. The central messages President Bush emphasized in his publicized remarks were that he is taking steps to prop up Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, and that America would not facilitate or support negotiations between Israel and Syria.
The two men also spoke about the Iranian threat and how to confront it, with Bush saying that "all options are on the table. I would hope that we could solve this diplomatically." In any case, the American leader said that Iran had to understand that "there's a price to be paid" for defying the international community over the Islamic Republic's nuclear weapons development program.
Regarding Israeli negotiations with Syria, President Bush told Prime Minister Olmert that "it's your business" and Israel does not need American approval. However, he also made it clear that the US will not serve as a broker for such contacts. The American refusal to facilitate the potential negotiations is based on Syria's designation as part of the "Axis of Evil," which includes Iran and North Korea. It appears that the American position will stymie any talks between Syria and Israel, as a Syrian condition thus far has been American involvement.
Prime Minister Olmert, for his part, said conditions for negotiations with Syria are not yet ripe.
Moments before going into their meeting, both President Bush and Prime Minister Olmert emphasized that they recognized Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), head of Fatah, as the legitimate 
The two men also spoke about the Iranian threat and how to confront it.
representative of the Palestinian Authority. At the start of the meeting, Bush said, "Our hope is that President Abbas and Prime Minister [Salem] Fayed will be strengthened to the point where they can lead the Palestinians in a different direction." He further expressed the view that Israel and the US have a "common vision" of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, as well as a "common strategy" to combat the "extremists" in Gaza.
Prime Minister Olmert said that he intends to meet with Abbas in the near future. He also said he was willing to consider conciliatory measures that would be thought of as diplomatic successes for Abbas. In his discussion of the new PA government, Olmert referred to Fatah-appointed Prime Minister Fayed as "a good man."
In an earlier meeting with Prime Minister Olmert, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice informed the Israeli leader that the United States is lifting its embargo of funds to the Palestinian Authority. The policy withholding aid was put in place after the Islamist Hamas movement won elections in the PA in 2006 and took over the government. Currently, Rice explained, the US will unfreeze the funds to support the emergency government established by Abu Mazen, which does not include Hamas. According to the official American view, the Fatah-led PA, unlike Hamas, is opposed to terrorism and will honor previously signed agreements with Israel.