US President George W Bush told Palestinians on Thursday he believed they would sign a peace treaty with Israel within a year that would give them their own state.

Challenging sceptics on the first US presidential visit to the West Bank city of Ramallah, Bush told a news conference with President Mahmoud Abbas: “I believe it’s going to happen, that there will be a signed peace treaty by the time I leave office. I am confident that with proper help the state of Palestine will emerge.”

Officials have said that any treaty signed by the time Bush steps down next January would not lead to the immediate creation of a new state. Israel has made it clear it will not end its occupation of the West Bank until it is sure its own territory is safe from attack.

Bush also said that he was unsure that the isolation of the Gaza Strip, a major part of any future state, could be solved within the year.

He said Washington, Israel's closest ally and now a strong backer of Abbas’s administration, stood ready to provide both political and economic backing but that Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert must “come together to make hard choices”.

Critics say Bush has failed to deploy Washington’s full weight in seeking to end the 60-year-old conflict during the first seven years of his presidency.

Abbas urged Bush to press Israel to ease security restrictions in the occupied West Bank that Palestinians say cripple their society and economy, and halt Jewish settlement.

 Bush also urged Israel not to take action that undermines Abbas’s security forces.
Politically weak, Abbas is hoping Bush’s visit to Ramallah will boost his own standing among Palestinians, who are desperate for progress towards an end to Israeli occupation and fulfilment of their dream of an independent state.