(Adds Rice comments, previous RAMALLAH)

By Arshad Mohammed

JERUSALEM, Oct 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday a U.S.-led push for Israeli-Palestinian peace stood a "reasonable chance of success" but differences remained over a planned Middle East conference.

Rice wrapped up four days of shuttle diplomacy with no sign of a breakthrough or an announcement of a final date for the international gathering that Washington sees as the most serious step towards Palestinian statehood in years.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas put Rice on notice that Palestinians could opt out of the conference if talks fail with Israel over a joint document that would address key issues and lead to the revival of negotiations on a peace deal.

"It's impossible to go to the conference at any price," Abbas told reporters. "We told Secretary Rice we don't have much time, that we must make use of every minute."

At a news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Rice pledged the meeting, planned for November or December in Annapolis, Maryland, would be substantive and said: "I don't expect anybody to attend at any cost, including us."

Abbas, who lost control of the Gaza Strip to Hamas Islamists in June, is seeking a document that deals in detail with the most divisive issues of its conflict with the Palestinians -- borders and the future of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.

Israel wants a broadbrush document and rejects Abbas's call for a timeline for addressing the core issues and implementing any agreement.

"We are at the beginning of a process," Rice acknowledged, looking ahead to what she called "the day after" the conference that would set the stage for a final peace push.

"If we work hard throughout this process, if we work hard to resolve these issues, I think we have a reasonable chance of success in moving forward on the vision of two states living side by side in peace and freedom," Rice said.

COMMON GROUND

Livni, who heads Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's negotiating team with the Palestinians, said Israel wanted "to reach understanding on the widest possible common ground in the time available."

She said Israel was prepared to compromise, but she did not say how.

"We hope to discover the same willingness on the Palestinian side," Livni said.

"The idea is not to raise expectations that can lead to frustration and to violence, because we need to learn from past experience," she said.

Violence surged after Israeli and Palestinian peace talks broke off in 2000.

Earlier in the day, Rice toured Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, lit a candle and voiced hope religion could be a force for reconciliation in the Middle East.

She entered the city through a gate in a towering Israeli wall that Palestinians regard as a hated symbol of occupation. Israel says the barrier it is building in the occupied West Bank stops Palestinian suicide bombers.

"Being here, at the birthplace of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, has been a very special and moving experience," Rice, the daughter and granddaughter of Christian clergymen, told reporters after visiting the church.

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