Despite the one-sided nature of the violence in Israel, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher is going out of his way to equate Israel with the Palestinians. In response to a general question about the status of the Tenet ceasefire during yesterday\'s briefing, he did not mention the Palestinian violations, yet emphasized no less than five times the expectations he has from \"both sides.\" Excerpts from his response:
\"Over the past few days, as we know, we have seen an upsurge in violence and in shootings. We certainly regret the loss of life on both sides over the past few days, and we call on both sides to redouble their efforts to bring down the violence. We are encouraged by the efforts made by both sides... But continued success requires good faith and sustained efforts from both sides to fully implement the work plan. We think both sides need to focus on sustaining their efforts to fully implement the work plan...\"
\"Over the past few days, as we know, we have seen an upsurge in violence and in shootings. We certainly regret the loss of life on both sides over the past few days, and we call on both sides to redouble their efforts to bring down the violence. We are encouraged by the efforts made by both sides... But continued success requires good faith and sustained efforts from both sides to fully implement the work plan. We think both sides need to focus on sustaining their efforts to fully implement the work plan...\"