President George W. Bush on Tuesday failed to endorse specific plans for further Israeli withdrawals from the West Bank, but called the ideas from Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister “bold”, and suggested they could be “an important step towards the peace we both support”.

Speaking in Washington after his first meeting with Mr Olmert as prime minister, Mr Bush said: “He is willing to think about ways to advance the process forward and think creatively. The most important aspect of peace is to have a vision of peace.”