Bush has "no illusions" on Mideast breakthrough

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush will try to bolster the faltering Israeli-Palestinian peace process on a May 13-18 trip to the Middle East, but the White House said on Monday he is "under no illusions" of a quick breakthrough.

It will be Bush's second visit to Israel and neighboring Arab states since hosting a conference in Annapolis, Maryland, in November where Israeli and Palestinian leaders pledged to try to reach a peace deal before he leaves office in January 2009.

Negotiations between the two sides have since bogged down, deepening skepticism about the chances that Bush will succeed in the quest for Middle East peace after so many of his predecessors failed.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino insisted that Israeli and Palestinian leaders remain committed to the peace effort but acknowledged that "more needs to be done."

"Moments like when the president is going to go and travel to the region can create opportunity to push this system a little bit further," she told reporters as she released details of Bush's itinerary.

"But we're under no illusions that things are going to happen immediately," she added. "There's a lot of deep-seated history that has to be addressed if they're going to define a state by the end of the year."

She sought to play down discouraging words from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who said on Saturday after last week's White House talks that he was uncertain that a peace deal was possible this year. Aides said he came away disappointed from his meetings in Washington.

"The Palestinian people are assured that the president is committed to helping them establish their own state," Perino said.

NO THREE-WAY TALKS SCHEDULED

Despite that, the chance of significant progress during Bush's trip may be dimmed by the lack of three-way talks between Bush, Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Bush is scheduled to meet Israeli leaders and address parliament during a visit to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Jewish state, the White House said.

He then travels to Saudi Arabia for talks with King Abdullah before going to the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where he will see Abbas, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah.

Once wary of taking a hands-on role in peacemaking, Bush told Abbas, weakened by Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip last year, that Palestinian statehood remained a "high priority."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is going to the region before Bush, who is looking to shape a foreign policy legacy that encompasses more than the unpopular war in Iraq.

But Bush will likely have a hard time squeezing serious concessions from either side as world leaders look increasingly to his successor, to be elected in November.

Since Annapolis, the climate has soured amid Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and violence in and around Gaza, where Hamas cross-border rocket fire has drawn a tough Israeli military response.

Critics had accused Bush, who disdained predecessor Bill Clinton's failed peace effort at the end of his presidency, of neglecting the Middle East conflict and they say he still has not deployed Washington's full diplomatic weight.

(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)