Jerusalem: Former British Premier Tony Blair today said there is a "sense of possibility" in the Middle East as he held talks with prominent Israeli and Palestinian leaders on his first trip to the region in his new role as a special peace envoy.

"I think there is a sense of possibility, but whether that sense of possibility can be translated into something, that is something that needs to be worked at and thought about over time," Blair told reporters after a meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres.

These were the first public comments by Blair, the Mideast Quartet's newly-appointed special envoy, who has said he has come to "listen, learn and reflect" during two days of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The new Israeli President, a Nobel peace laureate, backed up Blair's contention by saying that there is "a serious window of opportunity".

"Your success is our success. Your dreams are our dreams," Peres said. "I feel this is a serious window of opportunity for peace, but the duration is not too long. We will have to help you," he said declaring his intention to cooperate with the former British Prime Minister.

Blair later travelled to the West Bank, where he went into talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
Earlier, he met Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who focussed on the nuclear threat posed by Iran during their discussion.