The timing of Israel’s assassination of a Hamas leader was “not helpful,” Condoleezza Rice said. President Bush’s national security adviser did not directly condemn Abdel Aziz Rantissi’s killing, but reiterated White House concerns that the Israelis “need to take account of the consequences of what they’re doing. And certainly, given that we had just talked about trying to get the ‘road map’ under way in the Middle East, trying to get the Gaza disengagement plan underway, then the timing is not helpful.” Israel has a right to defend itself, Rice told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, but “it’s just extremely important that the Israelis also keep in mind the long view here.”
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