Camp David talks draw mixed reaction

Camp David talks draw mixed reaction

The talks at Camp David between President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have drawn mixed reactions in Friday's Israeli and Arabic press.

The preoccupation in Israel is with the political price to be paid for progress in the Middle East peace process. The Arabic press is sceptical about the purpose and outcome of the talks. Here is a selection of quotes.

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Israeli press

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At the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem last night, they marked a big 'check' after the Camp David press conference ... President Bush stood by his promise to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and rejected the proposal of his British guest to step up pressure on Israel in an effort to fend off the growing criticism of the war in Iraq.

Aluf Benn in Ha'aretz

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'The biggest of Israel's enemies', they call him [Tony Blair] with a certain self-conscious exaggeration at the prime minister's office. Blair is an enemy because he is pressuring President Bush to publish the road map as a signed, final act, the opposite of Sharon's conception, who sees the road map as a preliminary draft, an aspiration.

Nahum Barnea in Yedi'ot Aharonot

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The prevailing assessment in Sharon's entourage is that Bush will not impose on Israel something that is unacceptable to it .. The Americans will reject the Europeans' demand for Israel to make a series of 'parallel' moves to those demanded of the Palestinians .. Bush is ready now to make noises of support for the Palestinians because this is beneficial to Blair.

Shimon Schiffer in Yedi'ot Aharonot

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Bush and Blair finally understand now that the war is not going to be a quick picnic, and that is the clear message that came out of their meeting.

Avraham Tirosh in Ma'ariv

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The closer Bush and Blair get, the closer the road map in its original text gets to Jerusalem and Ramallah .. With the passage of time, the mutual dependence of the two leaders increases, and the resistance of the US president weakens. At a certain point, his commitment to Blair will overtake his debt to Sharon.

Ben Kaspit in Ma'ariv

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Israel, perhaps more than the Americans, needs a speedy settlement of the war .. The more the Americans sink in the Iraqi swamp, the more they will rely on the road map to rescue them from the trap, to the great sorrow of Sharon and his government.

Hemi Shalev in Ma'ariv

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Arabic press

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There have been differences over the shape of Iraq's future, but the two partners seem to have reached a compromise ... The future of Iraq should not become another bone of contention in the UN.

Al-Sharq Al-Awsat - London

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Iraqi resistance has confused Washington's calculations of an early victory, prompting Tony Blair to scuttle off to see his president, Bush, at Camp David to seek a way out of the deadlock.

Al-Quds Al-Arabi - London

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Bush and Blair have painted themselves into the same corner as they did for their sworn enemy Saddam Hussein.

Al-Dustur - Jordan

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The main aim of the Camp David talks was to pursue the efforts to overthrow the Saddam regime, not to implement Bush's plan of issuing a road map for creating an independent Palestinian state.

Al-Anwar - Lebanon

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Camp David - the stalemate summit ... The aggressors are facing a real problem on the ground, forcing the two panicking war leaders to review the situation.

Al-Khalij - United Arab Emirates

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We await the day when Tony Blair will stand before the British people to report on the confusion he has caused for his people and army.

Al-Watan - Oman

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BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.