Bush in Israel as scandal clouds peace hopes
U.S. President George W. Bush arrived in the Middle East on Wednesday to celebrate Israel’s 60th birthday and try to energize peace efforts complicated by a corruption scandal that could topple Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Meeting Israeli President Shimon Peres, Bush said Washington “would continue to work toward a vision of where people who are just and reasonable and want a chance to live at peace with Israel have that opportunity.”
He said that, at the same time, the United States would “speak clearly about those forces of terror who murder innocent people to achieve their political objectives, and how the world must stand against them.”