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 The presumed Republican presidential nominee, making a brief visit to Israel, said he spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas late Tuesday shortly after arriving.
"I believe that President Abbas wants to get this process started," McCain said. "I believe he does not support the kind of activity that is taking place in Gaza. I know that the U.S. government is fully committed to try and stop this violence, this cross-border violence that is taking place."
McCain's two-day visit included meetings with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other Israeli leaders. He was not visiting the Palestinian territories and spoke with Abbas by telephone.
Israel is conducting peace negotiations with Abbas' West Bank-based government, while waging a bloody battle with Hamas militants in Gaza, who fire near daily barrages of rockets at Israeli communities in southern Israel. Israel hopes to reach a peace deal by the end of the year, though it remains unclear how any agreement can be carried out while Hamas remains in power in Gaza.
McCain's comments indicated that, if he is elected president, he would maintain the tough U.S. stance against Hamas. Israel and the U.S. consider Hamas a terrorist group.
With his war hero status and a record of strong support for Israel, McCain is already widely popular in the Jewish state. He has received an extraordinarily warm welcome during the current visit, aimed at burnishing his leadership credentials and courting Jewish voters for the run-up to the U.S. presidential election.
Bystanders clapped and cheered as he placed a prayer note between the cracks of the Western Wall in Wednesday. He also was mobbed by supporters on Tuesday at Israel's official Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem.
Israel's Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, hailed McCain's support for Israel during an early morning meeting.
"I know we share the same understanding on the nature of the threats in the region," she said. "I know where you stand on what needs to be done."
McCain also was scheduled to take a helicopter tour with Defense Minister Ehud Barak. A similar tour given to then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush by former Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon 10 years ago helped forge a deep friendship between the men, who were subsequently elected to power.
McCain shares Bush's vision of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, but also has an image of being a staunch backer of hawkish Israeli policies. On Wednesday, he exchanged warm pleasantries with Benjamin Netanyahu, head of the hardline Likud party.
Some have questioned whether his uncritical support for Israel best serves Mideast peace efforts.
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 "Some people think that to be a friend to Israel you have to be a Likudnik," said Yossi Beilin, a dovish lawmaker and former peace negotiator. "A real friend is someone who will make an effort to bring an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The question is if McCain is that guy."
Before arriving Tuesday, McCain said in Jordan he would make Israel-Palestinian peace efforts a top priority. The Palestinians, for their part, claimed not to feel slighted by McCain's decision to meet only with Israeli leaders. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said McCain had a "genuine commitment to peace" and Palestinians had "the highest respect for Senator McCain."
Officially, the Arizona senator is in Israel strictly on congressional business. The senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, McCain was being accompanied by two other senators: Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, and Republican Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, two supporters who have been mentioned as potential running mates.
Their weeklong international trip includes stops in Iraq, Jordan, Britain and France.
McCain has said the visit is for fact-finding purposes and is not a campaign photo opportunity. But images of McCain embracing Israeli leaders and visiting Jewish holy sites could help McCain with Jewish voters, who make up crucial voting blocs in key states like Florida and Michigan.
Regardless, Israelis and Jews hold McCain in high regard for his personal bravery as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. During his last visit to Israel in Dec. 2006, McCain met with the families of two Israeli soldiers captured by Lebanese guerrillas, sharing his own story of survival behind enemy lines and promising to work for their release.
McCain, a former pilot, was shot down over North Vietnam during a bombing run in 1967. During his five years in captivity
-- two in solitary confinement -- McCain was frequently tortured by his captors and thought to be on the verge of death.
The fate of the two soldiers remains unknown.
[Associated
Press; By ARON HELLER]
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