Washington ? President Bush on Thursday gave Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas an important show of support, offering U.S. financial aid and hailing his reform efforts in the first White House meeting with a Palestinian leader since 2000.

Bush offered Abbas $50 million in direct aid to help Palestinians settle the Gaza Strip once Israel completes its planned withdrawal of Jewish settlers and soldiers this summer.

Although the amount is not considered large, the move was a crucial sign of confidence. The United States has given Palestinian authorities direct aid only twice in the last decade because of concerns about government corruption.

“You have made a new start on a difficult journey, requiring courage and leadership each day,” Bush told Abbas, who has faced mounting challenges since his election in January. “And we will take that journey together.”

The offer of aid and Bush’s warm words marked a sharp contrast from the treatment accorded Abbas’ predecessor, Yasser Arafat. Bush did not consider the longtime Palestinian leader a viable diplomatic partner, and never invited him to the White House before his death late last year.

Abbas, who has been eager to show ordinary Palestinians that he can deliver results from the Americans, had sought a letter from Bush laying out U.S. commitments on key points in the Palestinian-Israeli dispute. At a meeting in April 2004, Bush provided a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that the prime minister has since held out as a key expression of U.S. support.

But U.S. officials, who have been reluctant to do anything that might weaken Sharon’s political position at a time when the Israeli leader faces a challenge from his political right over Gaza withdrawal, declined the request.

At the same time, Bush, in a prepared statement, emphasized the administration’s points of agreement with the Palestinians. And in his comments to reporters, he notably did not push Abbas to begin immediately disarming and arresting Palestinian militants, as the Israelis want the Palestinian leaders to do.