US President Bush sharply criticized Israel and Prime Minister Sharon in a press conference last night. \"Frankly,\" said the President, \"it\'s not helpful what the Israelis have recently done in order to create conditions for peace. I understand someone trying to defend themselves and to fight terror. But the recent actions aren\'t helpful.\" He didn\'t explain the apparent contradiction between his last two sentences. To compound the difficulty, he later said in answer to a question, \"I want to reiterate what I said the other day. Our policy is to deny sanctuary to terrorists anyplace in the world, and we will be very active in doing that.\" He snidely added, \"I certainly hope that Prime Minister Sharon is concerned about the loss of innocent life. We certainly -- I certainly am. It breaks my heart and I know it breaks the heart of a lot of people around the world to see young children lose their life as a result of violence -- young children on both sides of this issue.\"
Only hours after Bush\'s speech, an article in The New York Times reported that the estimated total of enemy casualties in Afghanistan is more than 800, or over 5 a day. In contrast, the number of Palestinians killed in the 18 months of attacking Israel is just over 2 a day.
Bush also implied that Israel would begin implementing the Tenet Agreement upon the arrival of Gen. Zinni in Israel tonight: \"We had a lot of phone conversations with people in the Middle East which led us to believe that there is a chance to create -- to get into Tenet, or at least create the conditions to get into Tenet.\" MK Tzvi Hendel (National Union) confirmed this on Arutz-7 this morning. \"Prime Minister Sharon told me yesterday,\" Hendel said, \"that he will begin implementing the Tenet Agreement when Gen. Zinni arrives in Israel.\" This includes the withdrawal from all the Arab cities in Yesha and the reduction of military checkpoints on Yesha roads.
Only hours after Bush\'s speech, an article in The New York Times reported that the estimated total of enemy casualties in Afghanistan is more than 800, or over 5 a day. In contrast, the number of Palestinians killed in the 18 months of attacking Israel is just over 2 a day.
Bush also implied that Israel would begin implementing the Tenet Agreement upon the arrival of Gen. Zinni in Israel tonight: \"We had a lot of phone conversations with people in the Middle East which led us to believe that there is a chance to create -- to get into Tenet, or at least create the conditions to get into Tenet.\" MK Tzvi Hendel (National Union) confirmed this on Arutz-7 this morning. \"Prime Minister Sharon told me yesterday,\" Hendel said, \"that he will begin implementing the Tenet Agreement when Gen. Zinni arrives in Israel.\" This includes the withdrawal from all the Arab cities in Yesha and the reduction of military checkpoints on Yesha roads.