By Jeffrey Heller TEL AVIV, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert begins a U.S. visit on Sunday, seeking from President George W. Bush a post-election picture of U.S. policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Iran. "It is the right time ... to exchange views with the president on what is expected in the coming two years (of his term) on issues we are interested in and which America is interested in," Olmert said before leaving Israel. "The main subjects will be the situation in the Middle East and the Iranian issue," he told reporters, referring to Tehran's nuclear programme which Israel and the United States fear could lead to the development of atomic weapons. A mid-term U.S. election last week showing deep popular dissatisfaction with the conduct of the war in Iraq has raised speculation in Israel that Bush could try to cap his two-term presidency with progress on Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. Olmert is due to meet Bush on Monday before flying to Los Angeles to address a U.S. Jewish conference on Tuesday. He left Israel overnight. Gearing up for the four-day trip, Olmert heaped praise on moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, calling him "upfront, decent and against terror", in an apparent signal that he would be the focus of any new U.S. or Israeli peace efforts. HAMAS STANCE But any such moves would likely require a remake of a Palestinian government headed by Hamas, an Islamist group that has rejected demands by the United States and other peace brokers to cange dramatically its position towards Israel. The group, which won Palestinian elections in January and ousted Abbas's Fatah faction, advocates Israel's destruction and helped spearhead a Palestinian revolt that erupted in 2000. Hamas and Abbas have been trying to reach agreement on a unity government of technocrats they hope can ease Western sanctions against the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority. Abbas said on Saturday he hoped a unity cabinet would be in place by the month's end. Israeli media reports said Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni had discussed ways for Israel to grab the diplomatic initiative in the stalled peace process. "We will make every effort, we will search for any creative way, we will be prepared to make extraordinary gestures to create an atmosphere in which the moderate elements among the Palestinian public will be the deciding factor," Olmert said in a speech to his centrist Kadima party on Thursday. In separate remarks in English to a Tel Aviv business conference, Olmert again voiced his willingness to hold a summit with Abbas. "He will be surprised, when he will sit with me at how far we are prepared to go. I can offer him a lot," Olmert said, without elaborating. Abbas has been seeking a substantial release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel in return for an Israeli soldier seized in June by militants who tunnelled from Gaza into Israel. Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Abbas, said about a meeting with Olmert: "We don't just want a photo opportunity." Olmert last met Bush in May during a Washington visit in which the prime minister told the U.S. Congress about Israel's fears that a nuclear Iran would pose a threat to its existence. Iran, whose president has called for the Jewish state's destruction, says it intends to use its uranium enrichment programme for electricity generation. Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons. Olmert's U.S. trip takes place with tensions high in Israel and the Palestinian territories after 19 civilians were killed in a Gaza town hit by Israeli artillery fire on Wednesday. Olmert said he did not think the incident would cloud his visit to the United States, Israel's main ally. He has expressed sorrow over the deaths of innocents in what he described as a technical error by artillery firing towards an orange grove where militants hasd launched rockets at Israel.
