News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) American President George W. Bush welcomed Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas as "a man of peace." He told the visiting leader of the Fatah party that he wants to see a new Arab state within Israel's current borders as "a viable state, a state that doesn't look like Swiss cheese."

Abbas is "a man of vision," President Bush added. "He rejects the idea of using violence to achieve objectives, which distinguishes him from other people in the region." Israeli nationalists have continually criticized the American and Israel governments for calling Abbas a moderate. They have pointed out that after last month's terrorist attack on the Merkaz HaRav yeshiva that resulted in the deaths of eight students, the PA praised the murderer as a martyr. Abbas also announced a short time later he would honor five female terorists but backed down after Israeli protests.