Expectations low for Mideast summit

WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- A former U.S. ambassador to Israel says not much is expected of a Middle East peace summit in Annapolis, Md., next week.

The low expectations are, in part, because President George W. Bush has been relatively disengaged from the summit, leaving the role of restarting the peace process to Secretary of State of Condoleezza Rice, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

"You don't get a sense that he's invested in it," said Daniel C. Kurtzer, who served as Bush's ambassador to Israel from 2001 to 2005.

Bush is to deliver the opening speech and conduct three rounds of diplomacy with Israeli and Palestinian leaders at the summit Tuesday. He has yet to visit Israel and has made only one trip to Egypt and Jordan while Rice has logged 100,000 miles flying to and from the Middle East eight times in just the last year.

Rice has said her goal is to achieve a peace agreement by the end of the Bush presidency, while Bush privately has said he has no intention of trying to force a peace settlement on Israel or the Palestinians, the Post reported.