Bush is set to take a more active role in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process,

        US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told USA Today Bush would be visiting the region because "he very much wants to signal support for the bilateral process between the parties and to continue in a hands-on way to encourage them to move forward." Still, she described that approach as not one that says, "All right, I'm going to go ahead and fix this for you," but one emphasizing talking to the parties, in which "he'll be able to get a strong sense of where the points of convergence are that maybe they won't see, and where the points of divergence are as well." Rice cited Bush's role at the recent Annapolis conference in which Israel-Palestinian negotiations were formally relaunched. At Annapolis, Bush pledged to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that the US would be "actively engaged" and help the parties. Until now, Bush has taken a low-key approach to peacemaking, delegating authority to Rice. While she has visited Israel eight times this year to facilitate negotiations, Bush will be making his first official trip when he comes in January.(07,46)