Olmert, Obama discuss peace process

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert spoke by telephone on Thursday evening with US President-elect Barack Obama, and congratulated him on his historic election.

The Prime Minister's Office confirmed the conversation had taken place, and said Olmert and Obama discussed the longstanding friendship between America and Israel, and the importance of preserving and strengthening the existing relationship.

Immediately after the results of the elections were announced Olmert said "America has proven once more that it is the greatest democracy, an example to all other democracies in the world. Obama has proven his skills and sense of leadership to the world."

The prime minister went on to say that the ties between Jerusalem and Washington were based on shared values and interests, and that this was evident in the close cooperation between the two countries.

Earlier in the day US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice conceded that an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by a year-end deadline is no longer possible.

But she also said upon arriving here that "it is important to maintain momentum and support for the negotiations."

En route to the Middle East for her eighth trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories since the parties set the timeline for reaching an agreement at last November's summit at Annapolis, Md., Rice told reporters in her traveling party that political uncertainty in Israel was the main complication.

"Obviously Israel is in the middle of elections and that is a constraint on the ability of any government to conclude what is the core conflict for Israel and the Palestinians," Rice said.