Hamas's armed wing condemned a commitment by Abbas to Israel to crack down on militants: "All options remain open to respond to any expected Zionist crime," it said. A Hamas statement to mark the partition anniversary said there was "no place for Jews" in the land that was once British-run Palestine.
TWO-STATE SOLUTION
Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem, Israel's President Shimon Peres hailed the conference as a success, saying the two sides had moved beyond an "impossible situation" to start talks.
Olmert said Israel, which believes Arabs would in time outnumber Jews if it incorporated the land captured in the 1967 Middle East war, had little choice about peace if it wanted to survive as a Jewish state while safeguarding democracy.
If Israel failed to agree to a two-state solution and tried to absorb Palestinians without giving them equal voting rights, influential U.S. Jewish organisations "will be the first to come out against us", Olmert said.
Bush, whose reputation in the region has been badly damaged by the Iraq war, has faced criticism for not acting sooner to resolve one of the Middle East's most intractable conflicts.
Olmert dismissed charges his peace push was designed to boost approval ratings hit by a series of so far inconclusive graft allegations and last year's unpopular war in Lebanon.
He was due to return to Israel later on Thursday and was expected to hear whether police would recommend indicting him on corruption charges over the sale of one of Israel's biggest banks when he served as finance minister.
Negotiators will meet again on December 12 in Jerusalem.
