Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert starts a U.S. visit on Sunday. "It is the right time ... to exchange views with the president on what is expected in the coming two years (of his term) on issues we are interested in and which America is interested in," Olmert said before leaving Tel Aviv.
"The main subjects will be the situation in the Middle East and the Iranian issue," he told reporters.
According to Reuters, Olmert is expected to meet President Bush on Monday before flying to Los Angeles to address a U.S. Jewish conference on Tuesday. He will return to Israel on Thursday.
In an interview Sunday to Newsweek and the Washington Post, Olmert said "I'm ready for territorial compromises, and I haven't changed my mind."
Olmert avoided answering the question of whether the U.S. had asked him to release jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, and would say only "I made it clear long ago that I am anxious to open up a new dialogue with Abu Mazen, and for that purpose, I'm ready to release many prisoners. Hamas' extreme inflexible attitude prevents the prisoners from being released because they refuse to let us have our soldier [Gilad Shalit].... Hamas is not really interested in the well-being of its prisoners. They want to topple Abu Mazen [Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas] at any cost."
Olmert hailed some Arab countries in the interview, especially Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on their position during the July-August war, noting "in the past, the Saudis have expressed some ideas about a possible solution in the Middle East."
