What Bush must tell Sharon

When President Bush meets Ariel Sharon tomorrow they should agree on one thing. The so-called "road map" for Middle East peace worked out by Bush administration officials, with input from Tony Blair, must not become a medium by which the Israelis and Palestinians continue their ancient fight through different means.

It must form the basis of a genuine attempt to reach a full settlement - if not within the three years envisaged in the draft, at least before another generation of young Jews and Arabs are trapped inside the despairing cycle of atrocity and counter-atrocity that has characterised their relationship for decades.

The omens are mixed. Mr Bush, prompted by Mr Blair, has clearly been persuaded that an Arab/Israeli peace deal is an indispensable step towards his big vision for the region: the creation of a stable and democratised Middle East. Having been so convinced - against his initial instincts - the signs from Washington are that the President is determined to make every effort to broker a deal. Whether he remains quite so resolute during the American Presidential election campaign next year will be a test of his statesmanship.

Mr Bush will have to exert real pressure on Israel to make concessions - on the issue of West Bank settlements, the future of Jerusalem and water rights to Palestinian villages - in the way that no earlier President has been prepared to do.

Mr Sharon, for his part, must show a genuine change of heart from the intransigent leader we have come to know over the last few years. He has welcomed the road map as a basis for negotiation. The news over the weekend that he is prepared to hand back to the Palestinians some towns on the West Bank, and the release of 500 Palestinian prisoners, was welcome. But he has said and done similar things before. It is time for him now to show by actions, not just words, that he really believes a settlement based on land for peace is the best - indeed the only - hope for his country.

The Palestinians have their best chance in a generation to end the continuing tragedy for their people - but only if their Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas wins his power struggle against Yasser Arafat and can find a way of persuading the extremist groups such as Hamas and Abu Jihad to stick to a ceasefire. He will need help from Mr Sharon and Mr Bush. If he chooses to seize it, President Bush has a historic opportunity that has eluded all his predecessors.