Barack Obama under pressure to break silence over Israel-Gaza crisis

Mr Obama's silence is being interpreted by many as an implicit agreement with President George W. Bush's stance. Photo: REUTERS

As the third day of Israeli air strikes drew to a close, Mr Obama continued his holiday in Hawaii with a game of golf, keeping his distance from reporters who might hurl a question at him.
Mr Obama does not become president for another three weeks and his aides argue that any comment by him could send mixed messages to the world about American foreign policy.
But Mr Obama's silence is being interpreted by many as an implicit agreement with President George W Bush's stance that the crisis is the fault of Hamas and that Israeli military action should not let up until the Islamist group agrees to stop firing rockets into Israel.

By Tuesday morning, a small group of pro-Palestinian supporters had gathered outside Mr Obama's $5 million (£3.5 million) holiday home. Some pointed out that he had made statements about the Mumbai terrorist attacks and a range of other issues.
"He is talking about how many jobs he is going to create, but he is refusing to speak about this," said Carolyn Hadfield, 66, one of the protesters.

Margaret Brown, also 66, carried a sign that modified Mr Obama's campaign slogan to read "'Yes we can' change US policy toward Israel and Palestine",. She said: "We need to stop giving Israel a blank cheque to do what it's doing. It's political suicide to challenge Israel in this country."
There are political risks for Mr Obama, who regularly pledged on the campaign trail to "change the world", in failing to express an opinion on the crisis.

The images of him playing golf are reminiscent of those of Mr Bush, who was mocked for making comments to reporters about international crises just before teeing off.
A White House spokesman said that Mr Bush spoke on Tuesday to Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, and
President-Elect Barack Obama has come under increasing pressure to break his silence on the Gaza crisis, as the United States, almost alone worldwide, maintained its resolute support of Israel.

Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister, as well as President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt to thank him for "the positive role that Egypt is playing in the current crisis".

Although this indicated that Mr Bush was open to a ceasefire deal being brokered by Egypt or perhaps Jordan, he remained adamant that Hamas was to blame for the violence and refused to echo international calls for Israel to halt military action immediately.

"We have got to get a commitment from Hamas that they would respect any cease-fire and make it lasting and durable," said Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesman.
"And so until we can get that assurance, not the United States but until Israel can get that assurance, from Hamas, then you are not going to have a cease-fire that is worth the paper it's written on."
Initially regarded with suspicion by some Jewish groups, Mr Obama became more and more pro-Israel in his public statements as the presidential election campaign wore on.

Speaking in the Knesset, Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, quoted Mr Obama in Sderot, within range of Hamas missiles, in August when he said: "If somebody was sending rockets into my house, where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that. And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing."
Mr Obama now faces the awkward choice of remaining quiet and letting that statement be cited as a justification for current Israeli actions and wading into the uncharted waters of an international crisis weeks before he enters the White House.