Bush: No specific Mideast timetable

Bush, left, and Mubarak talk to reporters in Camp David, Maryland, on Saturday about their meeting.

CAMP DAVID, Maryland (CNN) -- President Bush said Saturday that he is not yet ready to outline a specific timetable for the creation of a Palestinian state, the key proposal made by visiting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at Camp David talks Saturday.

"We're not ready to lay down any specific calendar, except to say that we have to get started quickly -- soon -- so we can seize the moment," Bush said in remarks to reporters at the conclusion of the talks.

"Here's the timetable I have in mind," Bush said. "We need to start immediately in building the institutions necessary for the emergence of a Palestinian state which, on the one hand, will give hope to the Palestinian people and, on the other hand, say to the world, including the neighborhood, that there is a chance to live in peace, to defeat terror."

CNN NewsPass VIDEO CNN's Paula Zahn talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak about about al Qaeda and the Mideast peace process. (June 7) Play video

Bush also disappointed Mubarak over his other main request, a softening of U.S. public criticism of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.

Bush, repeating the tone of recent statements, said he was disappointed in Arafat's leadership and again called on Arafat to "do everything in his power to stop the violence, to stop the attacks on Israel -- I mean everything."

"Chairman Arafat, as far as I am concerned, is not the issue," Bush said. "I have constantly said I am disappointed in his leadership. I think he has let the Palestinian people down. Therefore, my focus is on the reforms necessary to help the Palestinians."

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Mubarak countered that violence would not end unless "the people feel there is hope for peace."

The Saturday morning talks at the presidential retreat in Maryland also included Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Sharon next for Bush

On Monday, Bush moves on with meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Washington.

He said on Friday that following the completion of both sets of talks he will tell the U.S. public "how I think we should move forward."

"After my meetings with President Mubarak and Prime Minister Sharon, I'll talk to our country about how I think we should move forward," said Bush. He said he had not decided on the forum for his remarks and refused to elaborate on what he might say.

Sharon, who arrived on Sunday, is expected to tell Bush that there can be no progress on peace until Arafat is pushed aside. Israeli newspapers carried stories Friday saying Sharon has made up his mind to expel Arafat, but has not decided when.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told reporters Thursday he understood the United States is working on a new peace proposal.

"This is something new emerging in the U.S., which says that the Palestinians will give up on the right of return in exchange for Israel giving up on the settlements," he said Thursday.

A senior U.S. official sought to shoot down Peres' comments, saying the Bush administration is "not doing any real thinking on permanent status issues."

The settlements were in the spotlight again Saturday following an overnight attack on a West Bank settlement which left at least three Israelis dead including a man and his pregnant wife. (More details)

Many ultra-Orthodox settlers maintain they have a biblical right to live in the West Bank, which they call Judea and Samaria. The Palestinians have said that the settlers are on the land illegally and the Israeli soldiers who guard them are an occupation force. There are more than 200,000 settlers in the territories.

The right of return demand by Palestinians, who either fled or were evacuated from lands that became Israel in 1948, has remained one of the biggest roadblocks to reaching a Middle East peace settlement.

Israel objects to allowing the Palestinians to return to Israel because doing so would create a Palestinian majority -- changing Israel from a Jewish to a Palestinian state.