Some American officials believe that Ahmadinejad's intemperate statements, like his threat to wipe Israel off the map, have not gone down well at home.
The first is political - they say that it undermines the Road Map which Israel signed up to six years ago.
The new Palestinian prime minister had previously maintained that any meeting with Mr Sharon was conditional on Israel accepting the road map.
The map of Israel has changed several times since then - making the sensibilities of the second papal visit as complex as ever.
And according to her, the Prime Minister of Israel put on the table a map outlining a Palestinian state and how it would relate to the Israeli borders and so forth.
Without Israel's acceptance of the road map, Mr Abbas cannot even begin to try to deliver what is expected of the Palestinians, says Ghassan Khatib, the PA labour minister.
"If, in fact, Mr. Netanyahu were to make an unequivocal statement about acceptance of this as a solution concept, then he should immediately be asked to begin, immediately, to implement Israel's other obligations under the road map, " said Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister.
For its part, Israel "must meet its responsibilities under the road map and help create conditions for a democratic Palestinian state to emerge, " she said.
It was on the basis of both Bush's letter and this more detailed agreement that both the Sharon and Olmert governments agreed to permit the US to act as an arbiter of Israel's implementation the so-called road map peace plan.
Leverett, a former CIA officer came to Israel with Undersecretary of State William Burns last month to discuss the road map.
By accepting the "Road Map Plan to a Two-State Solution" in 2004, Israel empowered the US, the EU, Russia and the UN, who comprise the international Quartet, to serve as judges of Palestinian and Israeli actions toward one another.
During her visit to Washington, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni emphasized Israel's desire to renew negotiations with the Palestinians on the basis of the road map, and the government's continued support for Abbas.
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