WASHINGTON, May 15 (UPI) -- U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama Thursday accused U.S. President George Bush of launching a political attack on him.

Bush is in Israel and in a speech before the Knesset talked about the dangers of the politics of appeasement. Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino said the remarks speak for themselves and though they didn't cite Obama's positions directly, "he'll have to speak for himself as to what his policy is and you guys (the traveling press) can know it well."

"It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence to launch a false political attack," Obama said in a statement. "George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists and the president's extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel."

Obama has said he would engage in talks with Iran's leaders if elected. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

"I understand when you're running for office you sometimes think the world revolves around you -- that is not always true and it is not true in this case," Perino said during a press briefing in Israel.

The passage in Bush's speech before the Knesset to which Obama objected was: "Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if we could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is -- false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."

Bush addresses Israel on 60th anniversary

JERUSALEM, May 15 (UPI) -- U.S. President Bush celebrated Israel's 60th anniversary in Jerusalem Thursday with a warning and a hope for better co-existence between Jews and Arabs.

In a prepared speech before Israeli lawmakers, Bush warned against "the incendiary language" of Mideast extremists like Hamas and Hezbollah, whose leaders call for an end to Israel, in drawing a parallel with the Holocaust.

"There are good and decent people who cannot fathom the darkness in these men and try to explain their words away," Bush said in his prepared speech. "But it is deadly wrong. As witnesses to evil in the past, we carry a solemn responsibility to take these words seriously."

Bush denounced the idea of individual talks with adversaries, as former President Jimmy Carter did recently in meeting with Hamas leaders. He did not mention Carter by name in his prepared speech.

"Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along," Bush said. "We have heard this foolish delusion before."

On the second day of his Middle East trip, Bush earlier toured the historic Dead Sea fortress Masada.

Quake death toll could hit 50,000

BEIJING, May 15 (UPI) -- Chinese officials Thursday said the death toll from Monday's massive earthquake could top 50,000.

As of late afternoon Thursday, 19,509 deaths in Sichuan province in southwestern China had been confirmed with tens of thousands more injured or missing, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Chinese Health Minister Gao Qiang said 12,587 of the 64,040 people hospitalized were severely injured and said efforts are in place to prevent epidemics from developing in the quake-ravaged area.

The 7.9-magnitude quake devastated a wide area, collapsing buildings -- 80 percent in one town -- and creating cracks in dams that threaten to fail and flood the areas around them.

More than 130,000 troops are aiding in rescue efforts, with 6,800 paratroops dropped into Devang and Mianzhu in Wenchuan County, which was virtually cut off due to road damage. Sniffer dogs also are being used in the search for survivors buried in the rubble.

China's Ministry of Education Thursday authorized schools to suspend classes. Many of the buildings were severely damaged by the temblor.

Xinhua reported that at least 270 students from a middle school in Qingchuan County were killed in the quake. Some 400 students were taking afternoon naps in the school when it collapsed. Eighty-four students have been saved from the rubble while 139 others escaped.

In Beijing, Foreign Minister Qin Gang said the country is deeply grateful for the support and aid coming from other countries. He said there is an urgent need for tents, blankets, food, medicine and communications equipment.

Myanmar storm survivors fear forced labor

YANGON, Myanmar, May 15 (UPI) -- Survivors of the Myanmar cyclone are reported being herded into government camps and fear they will used as forced labor.

Reports from Rangoon say the camps do not have food, water or shelter. The United Nations says it believes more than 500,000 people have been relocated into such camps.

A senior U.N. official told The Daily Telegraph he feared the survivors will be moved back shortly to the delta to plant the next rice crop, which must be sown in the coming weeks.

A farmer at the devastated town of Bogalay in the heart of the delta, who lost nine relatives in the storm, said survivors wanted to stay at monasteries but instead were being moved to government centers where they broke stones at construction sites, The Daily Telegraph said. They were said to be paid $1 a day but provided no food.

Lebanon takes steps to avoid war

BERUIT, Lebanon, May 15 (UPI) -- Lebanon has rescinded two decisions that had angered Hezbollah, apparently avoiding another civil war, government sources said Thursday.

The Shiite Muslim group's followers celebrated what they saw as a defeat for the U.S.-backed government in its latest confrontation with Hezbollah and its allies, The Washington Post (NYSE:WPO) said Thursday.

The Lebanese Cabinet angered Hezbollah to the brink of war last week with an inquiry into a telecommunications network set up by Hezbollah and a reassignment of the head of security at the Beirut airport. It has since reversed those actions.

The 18-month political struggle has paralyzed the country, leaving Lebanon without a president since November and effectively closing parliament.

The Cabinet cast the decision on the two decisions that upset Hezbollah as a move "in view of the higher national interest," rescuing Lebanon from a civil war that seemed dangerously close, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi announced.