Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met President George W. Bush on Monday to gauge the post-election picture of US policy toward the Middle East, and insisted he was not looking for war with Iran over its nuclear program.
Olmert's visit gave Bush a chance to redirect his attention to foreign policy, including the thorny issue of Iran's nuclear ambitions, following humiliating losses for his Republican Party in last week's congressional elections.
"Every compromise that will stop Iran from acquiring nuclear capabilities which will be acceptable to President Bush will be acceptable to me," Olmert said in an interview with NBC's "Today Show ahead of his White House talks.
"I am not looking for wars. I am not looking for confrontations. I'm looking for the outcome. This campaign will be tested in only one way - whether it will succeed to stop Iran from possessing nuclear weapons," he said in the interview, recorded in Israel on Friday and broadcast on Monday.
Israel's concerns over Iran's uranium enrichment program, the war in Iraq and Palestinian moves to form a unity government to replace a Hamas-led administration are likely to top the agenda of Olmert's talks with Bush.
Olmert said he did not believe Washington's strong backing for the Jewish state would waver after last Tuesday's midterm US elections, seen as a repudiation of the president's Iraq policy.
"Support for Israel traditionally has been bipartisan. I don't see anything changing in the next two years that can alter the balance of feeling towards us," Olmert told reporters accompanying him on the flight to Washington on Sunday. In preparation for his talks with Bush, Olmert had a working dinner with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday. Israel, which is widely believed to be the only country in the Middle East to have atomic weapons, fears that a nuclear Iran would threaten its existence.
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