President Bush should not repeat the mistake of his predecessor by locking up the leaders in some American presidential retreat and hope that will resolve the remaining problems. Short of that, however, there is much more that President Bush can do to close the deal between the Israeli prime minister and the Palestinian president. Olmert and Abbas can be pushed, cajoled, and encouraged to conclude an agreement with some serious advice from the President of the U.S. This will require the U.S. to begin taking sides and present bridging proposals that are fair and doable. Until now the U.S. has hidden behind the formula that parties must find an agreement between them. This has not been possible in the past and it is not possible now. One side (Israel) is powerful and in physical control while the other is weak and only has the power to negate a bad or an unfair deal.

President Bush therefore must decide quickly to begin via Dr. Rice, or even to take a direct, proactive position. An American proposal must have a clear sense of fairness for both parties to accept it, even reluctantly. At the same time, it must also be practical and doable. It must have an internal logic to it and must have the practical elements to be able to see the light of day.

It is possible that at the end of the day, Olmert and Abbas might agree to a fair and doable plan, but such a plan might not initially pass the respective decision-making institutions. This will move the process into the public arena, which will be much easier than reaching the initial agreement.

The American, Israeli and Palestinian public can be convinced to support such a plan if it passes the dual test of being fair and doable.

If President Bush succeeds in delivering his own promise of a peace agreement signed by the respective leaders before he leaves office, it could be a major accomplishment and would go far toward improving his legacy, which so far puts him at the top of the list of America's worst presidents.