U.S. President George W Bush and First Lady Laura Bush are welcomed by
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Israeli President Shimon Peres upon
their arrival into Israel.

BEN GURION AIRPORT, ISRAEL (MAY 14, 2008) JCS POOL -

U.S. President George W. Bush arrived in the Middle East on
Wednesday (May 14) to celebrate Israel's 60th birthday and try to energise
peace efforts complicated by a corruption scandal that could topple Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert.
    Bush, who faces deep doubt he can secure a deal between Israel and the
Palestinians before leaving office in January, visits Jerusalem first, where a
bribery investigation against Olmert is under way.
    A smiling Olmert, his wife, Aliza, and Israeli President Shimon Peres
greeted the president and First Lady Laura Bush at a red-carpet ceremony at
Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion Airport.
    Olmert, fighting for his political survival, said on the eve of Bush's
second visit to the region this year that he and Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas had reached "understandings and points of agreement" on some
issues.
    But Palestinian officials were sceptical, and one noted that the two
sides "still have a long way to go".
    With the clock ticking down on his administration, Bush is trying to
salvage a foreign policy legacy encompassing more than the unpopular war in
Iraq.