Furious Bush hits back at Sharon - 9/11

Wed, 30 Jun 2021 16:46:03 GMT

American relations with Israel plunged to their lowest point in a decade yesterday when the White House denounced as unacceptable statements by the Israeli prime minister comparing the US coalition-building in the Arab world to British appeasement of the Nazis in the 1930s. The Bush administration was reported to be furious with Mr Sharon's actions, and the White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer, told journalists that the president felt personally affronted by the comparison to Neville Chamberlain and the discredited policies of appeasement in the run up to the second world war. Mr Bush is an avid admirer of Winston Churchill. In an extraordinary speech, the Israeli prime minister had poured scorn on the campaign aimed at building an Arab consensus behind the campaign against terrorism.