By Xinhua,
Washington : The United States said Wednesday it is looking forward to working with “all responsible Israeli leaders in the government” after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s decision to quit in September.
“We are going to look forward to working with all responsible Israeli leaders in the government, whether it is this government or future governments,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
McCormack made the comments after Olmert announced Wednesday that he decided not to contend in the Kadima primary in September and would resign as soon as the new party leader was chosen, due to the criminal investigations embroiled him in recent months.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in a trilateral meeting later Wednesday to try to clinch a peace deal.
The Bush administration has hoped that such a deal could be reached before the end of this year. However, the Middle East peace process has made little progress since the United States hosted a Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland in November last year.