President Bush spoke to new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) for the first time on 20 May, reiterating his commitment to a Palestinian state and urging Abbas to crack down on terrorism. Seven Israelis were killed in Jerusalem on 18 May and three in Afula the following day in suicide bombings, prompting the Israeli government to seal off the West Bank and Gaza and Ariel Sharon to postpone his visit to Washington. 'Abu Mazen told the president he was committed to reform, to peace, and to ending all acts of terror,' said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. He described the telephone talks as 'friendly and hopeful'. Abbas met Sharon on 17 May to discuss the peace roadmap unveiled earlier this month by the quartet of the US, the EU, the UN and Russia - the highest level contact between the two sides since the beginning of the latest Palestinian intifada in 2000. The two failed to bridge the gap over the timing of the roadmap's implementation: Abbas wants both sides to begin putting its terms into effect immediately, while Sharon insists that the Palestinians must first crack down on terrorism.