Mitchell: Comprehensive Middle East peace will not be 'just a dream'

              Comprehensive peace in the region will not just be a dream, U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell said on Friday before meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "It must be and can be a reality. We want to make that reality happen, and soon, not in some vague and distant future time," Mitchell said. "Despite the challenges, the U.S. will persevere until we reach our common goal of Israel and a Palestinian state living side by side in peace." Earlier on Friday, Mitchell met in Jerusalem with President Shimon Peres who stressed that neither Israelis nor Palestinians want peace to be waitlisted. "Your arrival to the region is a symbolic green light to continue with the peace process," Peres told Mitchell. The president added that if Palestinians are doubtful of Israel's desire for peace, they can look at the peace agreements that Israel had signed with Egypt and Jordan. Peres said that peace was an essential interest to both Israelis and Palestinians, "not only because we don't want to govern another people, but because we don't want to see the conflict destroy our future." Mitchell also met on Friday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said Israel was intent on advancing efforts to reach a peace settlement with the Palestinian Authority and that he hoped the Palestinians would be responsive to such attempts. "I look forward to working with the Obama administration to move peace forward," Netanyahu told Mitchell at the beginning of the meeting. "We are serious about it, we know you are serious about it and we hope the Palestinians respond." The meeting, which the Prime Minister's Office said went well, did not culminate with a new round of talks announced, with another meeting between the two scheduled for Sunday. In another Friday meeting, Mitchell held talks with Defense Minister Ehud Barak in the first round of the new mission to the region to revive Middle East peace negotiations amid strains in U.S.-Israeli relations. Barak on Monday sounded a public alarm over the state of ties with Israel's closest ally, saying Israel's coalition "must act to change things." A statement from his office said he had talked with Mitchell for an hour "about renewing talks with the Palestinians," but it gave no details. The statement said Barak "wished Senator Mitchell every success in his current mission." The defense minister will hold another round of talks with Mitchell, as well as with other senior members of the Obama administration, during his visit to Washington next week. State Department Spokesman Philip Crowley said on Thursday that extensive talks had been held with the Israelis and the Palestinians on concrete steps that both parties could take to improve the atmosphere, and that Mitchell would be continuing those talks. When asked why Mitchell had decided to come to the region at a time when Netanyahu was entrenched in his position on Jerusalem, Crowley said the Obama administration had promised that Mitchell would visit after the recent holidays in Israel. He said that talks had been held with the Israelis and the Palestinians since Mitchell's last visit, including meetings with David Hale, Mitchell's deputy, and Middle East policy adviser Dan Shapiro, and that with the conclusion of these talks Thursday, it was thought wise for Mitchell to go to the region. Meanwhile, in a recent poll conducted by Quinnipiac University 44 percent of respondents disapproved of Obama's handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as opposed to 35 percent who approved. Among Jewish respondents, the lack of support was more marked, with 67 percent expressing disapproval of Obama's Middle East policies and only 28 percent approving. The poll conducted among 1,930 people registered voters between April 14 and April 19, found that 57 percent of Americans say their sympathies lie with Israel and 66 percent say the president should be a "strong supporter" of Israel. Currently, 42 percent believe Obama is not a strong supporter of Israel as opposed to 34 percent who believe he is. Among Republicans, only 16 percent believe Obama is a strong supporter of Israel as opposed to 53 percent of Democrats. Doubts about Obama's commitment to Israel increased with the age and the income levels of respondents. (23,03)