Road map, altered

The Bush administration has been pressing the Saudi royal family, its closest Arab ally, to exert its influence in the region, and American officials have taken pains not to appear to criticise the Saudis.

Similarly, the Bush administration has not criticised the new Palestinian government, which was largely a result of a Saudi-brokered deal.

But while Rice will continue pursuing the peace plan with Abbas, who is viewed as a moderate, it is unlikely that the US will recognise a Palestinian government that does not recognise Israel and forswear violence.

Hamas refuses to recognise Israel’s right to exist.

Still, both American and Arab diplomats representing several different perspectives said they saw some wiggle room.

As she returns to the region next week, Rice will try to shore up a Saudi proposal that was dismissed when it was offered in 2002, at the height of a series of Palestinian suicide bombings.

In the past week, Israeli officials have spoken of ‘‘positive’’ elements of the proposal. The American strategy appears to be to prod Arab governments to renew their commitment to it.

The proposal would offer Israel full recognition and permanent peace with the Arab states in return for Israel’s withdrawal to 1967 borders; the establishment of an independent Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and ‘‘an agreed, just solution’’ to the issue of Palestinian refugees and their descendants in accordance with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 of 1948.

That resolution said Palestinians had the right to return to their homes in Israel or to be compensated for their homes if they did not wish to return.

Both the United States and Israel say the Saudi plan does not go far enough, and Rice will be pushing Arab leaders to tack on amendments to address Israeli concerns, which are particularly centered around the refugee question.

But the crucial test is whether the new Palestinian unity government will sign on.

The Palestinians will be at talks on March 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where, the Americans hope, the Arab League will call for a new endorsement of the plan.

‘‘The new Palestinian unity government should unconditionally accept the Arab League initiative as the first serious step toward a meaningful political process,’’ said Ziad J. Asali, president of the American Task Force on Palestine, a nonpartisan organisation that supports a Palestinian state.

It is not at all clear that Hamas will accept the Arab proposal, because that would be a tacit recognition of Israel’s right to exist.

Abbas’s more moderate Fatah party, on the other hand, is far more likely to accept it. If the Riyadh meeting forces the issue, American and Arab officials said, it could put Hamas on the spot, and split the new Palestinian government.

Such a development would suit Bush administration officials, as it might isolate Hamas and put Abbas in a stronger position to call for a referendum among Palestinian voters.

‘‘There are a lot of pieces that have to fall into place,’’ a senior Bush administration official said Friday. ‘‘The Arab initiative by itself isn’t enough, but it’s a start.’’

Still, Middle East experts say it is a fine line Rice will have to walk, keeping her distance from Hamas ministers, so as not to alienate Israel, and working with moderate Palestinian officials, to keep that side engaged.

‘‘She’s got to engage in a smoke-and-mirrors exercise,’’ said Martin S. Indyk, a former United States ambassador to Israel.

–HELENE COOPER