Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt ? Arab leaders pledged on Tuesday to renounce terror and help end violence against Israel, standing in solidarity with President Bush at what he said was “a moment of promise” for peace. Bush called on Israel to dismantle Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

In the first of two Mideast summits, the United States welcomed Arab promises to block financial support for terrorists and help the new Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, build a democratic state.

Secretary of State Colin Powell warned longtime Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat not “to be a spoiler” of those efforts. Arafat, considered untrustworthy by Bush, was not invited to the Arab summit.

There was an extraordinary degree of personal interaction as Bush met with the leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and the Palestinian Authority at this Red Sea resort. Foreign ministers and note takers were excluded as the leaders talked among themselves for 90 minutes. The only outsiders were translators. Bush also took the wheel of a large golf cart and ferried the leaders around.

American officials cautioned that many obstacles have to be overcome to achieve peace, a goal that has eluded U.S. efforts for decades. There is widespread skepticism in the Middle East about whether this effort will succeed, either.

“The leaders at this table have got a responsibility,” Bush said at a brief, formal segment of the discussions. “The biggest responsibility that they have, it seems like to me, is to fight off any source of funding to terror. It’s to prevent the terrorists from gaining a foothold.”

President Bush drives a golf cart as he transports himself and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, front seat, and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt. Bush met Tuesday with Middle Eastern leaders to discuss an Israeli and Palestinian peace proposal. Standing, second from right, is Saudi Prince Al-Walid Bin Talal.

Taking up that theme, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said, “We will continue to fight the scourge of terrorism against humanity.”

The next step comes today when Bush travels to Jordan for a summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Abbas. Bush was counting on both sides to take steps launching a three-year blueprint for the end of 32 months of violence and the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.

“We have an opportunity. We must not miss it,” Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said late Tuesday in an interview on Israel TV. “But we must know that there are doubts and risks, and the most important thing is not to give in to illusions, as our predecessors did in previous processes.”

Sharon will issue a statement accepting the principle of a Palestinian state, an Israeli official said. Abbas will recognize Israel’s right to exist side by side with a Palestinian state, Palestinian officials said. Powell said that in any agreement, Israel “must always be seen as a Jewish state.”

In a goodwill gesture, Israel released scores of Palestinian prisoners.