OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 25 May 2003 — Despite the Bush administration’s insistence that a US-backed peace plan is not open to renegotiation, a deal struck to win Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s acceptance of the proposal virtually guarantees that Israel will be able to press for modifications on a range of important issues before the creation of a Palestinian state, US and Israeli officials said Friday.

After weeks of resisting American appeals, Sharon announced Friday that Israel is prepared to accept the “road map’’ to peace. But the United States agreed in turn to “recognize’’ a written list of at least 10 Israeli reservations about the plan, American officials said.

Sharon will put plan before his Cabinet as early as today. Washington expects the decision, if approved by Sharon’s ministers, to pave the way for a summit between President Bush, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and the Israeli leader in the first week of June.

Bush heralded Israel’s announcement as important progress. He said a US pledge Friday to address “fully and seriously’’ Israel’s concerns about the three-phase plan would allow implementation to begin.

Sharon “accepted it because I assured him that the United States is committed to Israel’s security, and that since we’re committed to Israel’s security, as we move forward we will address any concerns that might arise regarding Israel’s security,’’ Bush said during a news conference at his Texas ranch.

Bush also said he would “strongly consider’’ the three-way summit, which is expected to take place at the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. The president acknowledged that achieving peace would not be easy but expressed confidence that he could make headway. “I understand it’s going to be difficult to achieve peace, but I believe it can happen,’’ he said. “I’m committed to working toward peace in the Middle East.’’

Unveiled by the Bush administration on April 30, the road map calls for a series of reciprocal steps leading to Palestinian statehood by the target date of 2005 and the parallel creation of a secure, peaceful environment for Israel. The United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia are sponsors of the plan and had urged Israel to accept it.

US officials had said repeatedly that they wanted the Israeli and Palestinian governments to accept the plan in principal without getting bogged down in debating over its specifics.

The question that remains after Sharon’s announcement Friday is how much flexibility any party to the road map will have to demand substantive changes. Although both side have objections, the Palestinians, under US pressure, endorsed the peace plan two weeks ago.

On Friday, the new Palestinian government welcomed Israel’s announcement, calling it a “positive step.’’ But Information Minister Nabil Amr also said the Palestinians were counting on American assurances that no amendments would be made to the plan.

On that score, US Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said in Paris that the proposal is not subject to change.

In saying that the United States would be willing to take Israel’s list of concerns into account during implementation of the road map, the Bush administration did reject a central Israeli demand: That the Palestinian immediately waive their insistence on a “right of return’’ for refugees. Palestinians have insisted that those who became refugees when the state of Israel was created in 1948 should have the right to reclaim the land they lost.

But the United States has given Israel a “letter or an assurance’’ that the question of refugees will arise earlier in the process than originally stated, at the same time the two sides begin to hash out specifics surrounding creation of a Palestinian state, said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Jonathan Peled.

Israel also asked that it not be required to produce tangible results — turning over land to Palestinians, for example — without a monitoring system in place to verify that the Palestinians are taking required steps to fight terrorism. And the Bush administration acceded to Israel’s request that implementation would be monitored just by the United States, Israeli officials said.

“We don’t need the Europeans here; they’ve been detrimental to us,’’ said Sharon adviser Raanan Gissin, reflecting a frequently voiced perception in Israel that many European governments are sympathetic to the Palestinians.

Israeli political analysts said they expected Sharon, who easily won re-election in January, to be able to win majority support for the plan in his Cabinet, despite the announced opposition of several hard-line government ministers and leaders of Jewish settlers.

“The road map is an assisted suicide plan that leads Israel straight into the Mediterranean Sea,’’ said David Wilder, a settler in the West Bank city of Hebron. “The fact that the United States is willing to take into account Israel’s worries is totally worthless.’’

Some experts said that even Cabinet approval may not mean much.

“This will be largely a rhetorical move because the chances of the road map ever being implemented are extremely small,’’ said political scientist Gerald Steinberg of Tel Aviv’s Bar-Ilan University, who maintains that the Palestinians will not follow through on their obligations under the plan.

Now that Israel has accepted the road map, the onus is on the Palestinians to improve security by cracking down on militant groups, Powell said in Paris.

“We are looking for, and believe we will receive from Prime Minister Abbas, 100 percent intent and 100 percent effort to bring terror and violence under control,’’ he said at a news conference.

The need for such efforts was underlined again Friday when a pipe bomb exploded in the Gaza Strip near an Israeli bus, injuring two people.