Jerusalem ? Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in his first visit as an international envoy to the Middle East, met Tuesday with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders and said there was “a sense of possibility” in the region and “a moment of opportunity.”

But he added: “Whether that sense of possibility can be translated into something – that needs to be worked at and thought about over time.”

Blair, who is the new envoy for the so-called Quartet of Middle East mediators – the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia – said he had come “to listen, learn and reflect.”

He met in Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, then had dinner in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Blair is expected to return in early September, before a regional conference called by President Bush, and then spend about a week every month in the region.

“I think there is a sense of possibility at the moment,” Blair said after meeting Fayyad. “I think this is a moment of opportunity.”