KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine – President Bush, reacting angrily to the latest suicide bombing in Israel, said Sunday all nations must do everything possible to stop terrorist attacks.
A leading Democratic senator charged that U.S. ally Saudi Arabia is aiding Palestinian organizations such as Hamas, the militant group that claimed responsibility for the bus bombing in northern Israel that killed ten people.
"There are a few killers who want to stop the peace process that we have started. We must not let them," Bush said before he began a daybreak golf game with his father and some friends.
Unprompted by reporters, Bush addressed the attack as soon as his cart pulled up to the first tee at the Cape Arundel Golf Club.
"For the sake of humanity, for the sake of the Palestinians who suffer, for the sake of the Israelis who are under attack, we must stop the terror. I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killings," Bush said.
Bush long has promised to strike back at terrorists who kill Americans, but the United States did not retaliate with military force when five U.S. citizens were killed in a Jerusalem bombing Tuesday.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said Bush chose the correct course by letting Israel respond to the attack, which left a total of seven dead. Israeli tanks and armed personnel carriers took control of Nablus on the West Bank and arrested dozens of Palestinians in house to house searches.
But Lieberman, a strong supporter of Israel, said the United States and its allies must "cut off the flow of support to Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups that's coming from Iran, Iraq, Syria and, I fear, Saudi Arabia."
"Hamas and other terrorists groups claiming credit for bombings such as those have occurred this week, including those that killed five Americans, have sent money from Saudi Arabia to these terrorists groups," Lieberman said on Fox News Sunday.
"That can't go on any more if there's going to be peace."
Saudi officials have insisted that while they support the Palestinians in their struggle against Israel, they do not encourage suicide bombings.
Bush, who rose before the sun for the second day in a row to play golf with his father, said he was distressed to hear about the latest bombing.
"For those who yearn for peace in the Middle East, for those in the Arab lands, those in Europe, those all around the world who yearn for peace, we must do everything we possibly can to stop the terror," said Bush, spending a long weekend with his parents at the Bush family's summer home on the Maine coast.
Israeli witnesses and officials said that an apparent suicide bomber blew up a bus packed with Israelis on their way to work Sunday morning and a number of soldiers returning to their base. A police spokesman said the attack in northern Israel killed ten people and wounded dozens.
About three hours later, a Palestinian attacker opened fire just outside the walls of Jerusalem's Old City. That attack sparked a gun battle that left three people dead, including the gunman, who was shot by police.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox