President Bush is going out of his way to say that he's not pressuring Israel to take security risks for peace. Which means that either the President of the United States is fibbing or Condoleezza Rice is running her own foreign policy:

The Bush administration has told Israeli and Palestinian leaders they will need to show progress in their secret talks soon, or risk a potentially fatal erosion in public support for a process now in its sixth month without any obvious successes. The news comes as President George W. Bush is scheduled to visit Israel and Arab states starting Tuesday, adding to public pressure to demonstrate that US-sponsored peace talks are bearing fruit. However, diplomats said the warning by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was not tied to the president's visit and that she left it to both sides to determine what to do next. Rice passed the message during meetings with both sides a little more than a week ago, Arab, US and other Western diplomats said. Rice was reacting mainly to the increasingly pessimistic Palestinian assessments of the talks, but she warned that confidence was fragile among Israelis, too.

In totally unrelated news, Palestinians fired a bunch of mortars at Israeli schools and hospitals yesterday.

References:
* Bush to the Post: Abbas is a viable partner for peace [JPost]
* US: Israel, Palestinians need to show progress in secret peace talks [JPost]
* A number of mortar shells fired into Israel; no casualties [JPost]

Previously:
* Rice Now Going Out Of Her Way To Insult Israelis, Enforce Second-Class Diplomatic Status
* Confirmed: Rice Went Out Of Her Way To Screw Israel On Lebanon II
* Another State Dept Bait And Switch - Rice Says PA Should Control Gaza-Egypt Border (Plus: EU Maybe Kind Of Thinking About Fulfilling Rafah Agreement)