Occupied Jerusalem: President George W. Bush used a speech to the Israeli Parliament on Thursday to liken those who would negotiate with "terrorists and radicals" to Nazi appeasers - a remark widely interpreted as a rebuke to Senator Barack Obama, who has advocated greater engagement with countries like Iran and Syria.
Bush did not mention Obama by name, and White House officials said he was not taking aim at the Illinois senator, though they were aware the speech might be interpreted that way.
The comments created an angry tussle back home, as Democrats accused Bush of breaching protocol by playing partisan politics overseas.
The episode placed Bush squarely in one of the most divisive debates of the campaign to succeed him, as Republicans try to portray Obama as weak in the fight against terrorism. It also underscored what the White House has said will be an aggressive effort by Bush to use his presidential platform to influence the presidential race.
"Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along," Bush said, in a speech otherwise devoted to spotlighting Israel's friendship with the United States. He added, "We have an obligation to call this what it is - the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."
Obama delivered a quick and pointed response, saying in an e-mail statement to reporters that he had no intention of dealing with terrorists and accusing Bush of using his visit, timed for the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence, to "launch a false political attack".
On Thursday, other Democrats quickly leapt to Obama's defence. Sen Harry Reid, the Democratic leader, called Bush's remarks "reckless and irresponsible".
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Bush had behaved in a manner "beneath the dignity of the office of president". Rep Rahm Emanuel, the chairman of the House Democratic caucus, accused Bush of violating the unwritten rule against playing politics overseas.
Sen Hillary Clinton, Obama's rival, even joined him in taking issue with Bush. Speaking in South Dakota, Clinton said: "President Bush's comparison of any Democrat to Nazi appeasers is offensive and outrageous, especially in the light of his failures in foreign policy. This is the kind of statement that has no place in any presidential address."
For Obama, the stakes in the clash are high. American Jews and Israelis view him with some suspicion, for several reasons. First, Obama has said he would meet with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, who has called Israel "a stinking corpse" and denies its right to exist.
Second, an official of Hamas, the Palestinian group, has expressed hope for the Obama candidacy. (Obama has rejected that statement, and refers to Hamas as a terrorist group.) In addition, Obama's advisers include Zbigniew Brzezinski, a former White House national security adviser whom some Jews believe has an anti-Israel tilt.
