Israeli PM arrives in U.S. for talks

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has kicked off a five-day U.S. visit aiming to measure Washington's thinking on the nuclear standoff with Iran, Israeli-Palestinian relations and the state of U.S.-Israeli ties after the American elections.

Iran's nuclear ambitions were likely to dominate discussion at Olmert's visit Monday with President Bush.

Olmert also arrived with expectations that he could make small-scale moves on the Palestinian front, including the possibility of offering humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people.

On Sunday, the Palestinian foreign minister, Mahmoud Zahar, of the ruling Hamas group, accepted an Arab proposal for a peace conference with Israel, diplomats said. The endorsement marks the first time Hamas, which refuses to renounce violence against the Jewish state, has indicated it would consider making amends with Israel.

Olmert had dinner Sunday evening with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli government or the U.S. State Department on the meeting.

Israel is worried by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated calls to destroy Israel and -- like the United States -- does not believe Tehran's claims that its nuclear program is intended solely to produce energy. Israel accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

While the U.S. has led international efforts to curb the Iranian nuclear program, Israelis are worried American policy might soften following the Democratic Party's victory in U.S. congressional elections last week.

The fear is that with American public opinion turning against the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Bush, a Republican, would be less likely to take decisive military or diplomatic action against Iran.

Olmert on Sunday repeated his view that Iran will not scale back its nuclear ambitions unless it fears the consequences of its intransigence, a spokeswoman said.

"They (the Iranians) have to be afraid of the consequences if there isn't a compromise," spokeswoman Miri Eisin said Olmert told journalists on the flight to Washington.

Olmert appeared, however, to play down a senior Israeli official's suggestion that Israel is preparing for a military strike against Iran's nuclear program.

Asked to comment on Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh's remarks, Olmert replied that on such matters, "we have to be very careful about what we say," Eisin said. Sneh said last week that he considered a pre-emptive strike a last resort, but added that "even the last resort is sometimes the only resort."

On Sunday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Iran's military would hit back with a "swift, strong and crushing" response to any Israeli military action against it.

Olmert arrived in Washington with a gutted diplomatic agenda. He took office promising to pull Israel out of much of the West Bank, but shelved that plan after Israel's recent war against Lebanese guerrillas left Israelis with little enthusiasm for territorial concessions. A recent poll put his approval rating around 20 percent.