Bush cheered for defence of Israel

US PRESIDENT George Bush yesterday told a cheering Jewish audience that Israel has "has every right to defend itself from terror" and that Palestinians must renounce terror and their failed leaders.

The president received two dozen standing ovations and cries of "four more years" for his address before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, an influential pro-Israel lobbying group whose political support has been courted by his administration, particularly with an election looming.

Mr Bush made only a passing reference to the latest violence in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli helicopters pounded a refugee camp on Tuesday, killing at least 12 Palestinians.