WASHINGTON - The White House on Tuesday named the dates for a trio of summits that will pitch President Barack Obama deep into Middle East peacemaking with the leaders of Israel, Egypt and the Palestinians on May, 18, 26 and 28.
The talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas will set the stage for Obama's crucial address to the Islamic world in Egypt on June 4.
The talks will be watched for signs of discord between Obama and the new mainly right-wing Netanyahu government, which is yet to commit to the US goal of a Palestinian state and wants to prioritize efforts to confront Iran.
"The president looks forward to welcoming key partners in the effort to achieve a comprehensive peace in the Middle East to the White House later this month," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs in a statement.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel will visit on May 18, President Mubarak of Egypt will visit on May 26, and president Abbas of the Palestinian Authority will visit on May 28.
"With each of them, the president will discuss ways the United States can strengthen and deepen our partnerships, as well as the steps all parties should take to help achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians and between Israel and the Arab states."
The looming visits to Washington, as the Obama administration solidifies its Middle East policy, have set off a flurry of diplomacy and jockeying for position among key players in the region.
Jordan's King Abdullah II, who last month was the first Arab leader to meet Obama in the White House, warned in an interview with the Times newspaper of London on Monday that war could break out next year without an Arab-Israeli peace deal.
Netanyahu meanwhile met in Egypt with Mubarak on Monday, and said he wanted to resume peace talks with the Palestinians within weeks -- but avoided any mention of a two-state solution to the conflict.
Mubarak in turn said after meeting Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in the Red Sea resort of Sharm-El Sheikh Tuesday that Palestinian factions must unite before they could expect to achieve the creation of a state.
Cairo has played a mediating role between Abbas's Fatah faction and the rival Islamist Hamas movement, which have been bitterly divided after Hamas seized Gaza in a week of deadly factional fighting in June 2007.
In another possible sign of friction between the United States and Israel, a senior Israeli official told AFP Tuesday that Netanyahu will tell Obama next week he wants to keep building in existing settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The United States has called for Israel to stop construction of settlements, one of the main obstacles in the stalled peace process.
In another sign of tensions, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal warned Tuesday that a reported Israeli plan to raze Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem and surround the city with Jewish-controlled sites was "dangerous."
Prince Saud said the moves reflect Netanyahu's "extreme position" on the Arab-backed two-states peace plan for the region.
The peace plan calls for the Palestinians and Israelis to share Jerusalem as the capital of both states.
On Sunday, an Israeli rights group said the government has secret plans to surround Jerusalem's Old City with sites under its control to strengthen its hold on the divided city.
The plan would involve razing Palestinian homes built without permits in east Jerusalem.