TEL AVIV, January 11, 2008 (WAFA)-Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair said he believed a deal could be clinched between the Israelis and the Palestinians before U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office in January 2009, Haarets reported on Friday.

His comments came after President Bush, on Thursday, pushed the two sides for a treaty to be signed within a year to create a Palestinian state.

"Sure, it is absolutely possible to have a peace deal by the end of the year if people want to make it happen," the former British prime minister told British reporters after meeting Bush on the American leader's visit to Jerusalem.

But he said to achieve peace, those involved had to be prepared "to have the courage to take the difficult decisions to make the difficult compromises."

Blair said: "Given the determination there is to succeed and given the desire on the part of the American leadership, the Israeli leadership, the Palestinian leadership to see it happen, I think people could be surprised this year."