"Slim chance" for Mideast peace by end of year

      U.S. President George Bush's tenure has been largely characterized by a "lack of commitment" to the Arab-Israeli peace process, and it seems unlikely that the outgoing president will be able to bring peace to the region before the end of his term, former U.S. ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer said on Monday. Speaking in Herzliya at the two-day conference, "An Agreement within a Year," sponsored by the Geneva Initiative, Kurtzer said that "Bush inherited a much more challenging [situation] than Clinton, yet throughout his seven years, he failed to look for or exploit opportunities that presented themselves - and there were opportunities." His remarks - which included performance report cards for former President George H.W. Bush, as well as former President Bill Clinton  were based on extensive research conducted for his new book, "Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: American Leadership in the Middle East," which he co-wrote with Scott Lasensky. Due out later this year, the book is also highly critical of the Clinton administration's handling of the peace process, which Kurtzer found to have been marked by "unfocused and ad-hoc strategy." The former U.S. ambassador said that Bush's tenure was characterized by "unsupported envoys and diplomats," but nevertheless pointed to the recent Annapolis summit as one of the administration's "positive points." (09,52)