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Bush Condemns Terrorist Attack in Jerusalem

Hamas claims responsibility, Bush offers condolences

Washington -- The United States joins the international community in strongly condemning a terrorist attack on Jerusalem rabbinical students in an apparent bid to derail Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

See also:
 • Statements from President Bush and
 • Secretary Rice

"This barbaric and vicious attack on innocent civilians deserves the condemnation of every nation," President Bush says. "I have just spoken with [Israeli] Prime Minister [Ehud] Olmert to extend my deepest condolences to the victims, their families, and to the people of Israel. I told him the United States stands firmly with Israel in the face of this terrible attack."

In a separate statement issued in Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said "there is no cause that could ever justify this action."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas quickly condemned the attack, as did leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Russia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the European Union and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called the killings "an arrow aimed at the heart of the peace process," but Israeli officials have vowed that peace talks will continue.

On March 6, a gunman opened fire in the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva, a prominent rabbinical seminary in the heart of Jerusalem, killing eight students and wounding 35 others in the deadliest terrorist attack on Israeli citizens in two years, according to Israeli authorities. Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for the attack March 7, according to news reports.

For more information, see Confronting Terrorism.

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