MICHELE NORRIS, host: The formal invitations are just now going out for the Bush administration's Middle East peace conference in Annapolis next week. The idea of the gathering is to formalize final status peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians and get the blessings of key players, especially from the Arab world. …

MICHELE KELEMEN, correspondent: There were initially high expectations that the Israelis and Palestinians would set out their end game in Annapolis. But despite numerous trips by Secretary of State Rice, they're expected to come up with a less-ambitious joint statement. … Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian authority President Mahmoud Abbas seemed to have built up trust in their private talks. But both men are seen as politically weak and unable to make major concessions. Daniel Levy who was part of previous Israeli negotiating teams says it would be easier for Olmert to do nothing so his coalition stays with them.

Mr. DANIEL LEVY (Senior Fellow, New America Foundation; Former Member, Israeli Negotiating Team): But I think, first of all, that the Israeli prime minister does see a need in realizing a two-state solution. And secondly, he's not going to politically survive by doing nothing. He would much rather people were arguing about whether it's right to negotiate with the Palestinians or even the Syrians, or whether he's corrupt or whether he ran a bad war last year.

KELEMEN: As for Abbas, he has a political need for a peace process especially after the militant group Hamas seized control of Gaza in June. One of his former advisers, Ghaith al-Omari, who now works alongside Levy at the New American Foundation in Washington, says Abbas needs to prove that only a negotiated settlement will bring about an end to Israeli occupation.

Mr. GHAITH AL-OMARI (Visiting Fellow, New American Foundation; Former Adviser to President Mahmoud Abbas): Abbas right now is in a very adversarial zero-sum game with Hamas. And I think he realizes that's the only that he can position himself in a situation where he can put Hamas on the defensive is if he reaches a peace deal.

KELEMEN: Omari says the challenge for Secretary Rice and the Bush administration is to try to make a peace process look credible for the Palestinians.

Mr. AL-OMARI: The worst thing that you can have is the high officials speaking high politics and the realities in the world keeps on getting worse.

KELEMEN: That brings the two sides right back to where they were four years ago when Palestinians promised to crack down on terrorism and Israelis promised to free settlements among other things in the so-called roadmap. Daniel Levy says we should all expect to hear a lot of these confidence-building steps again.

Mr. LEVY: Annapolis in a way represents regression. Much of the emphasis today will be on process rather than substance and will be on sounding convincing when you commit yourselves to roadmap implementation items that have been there for four years. ...

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