SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we're told it was a very brief conversation between the two leaders. It lasted about eight minutes or so. It was Olmert who initiated the call, he made that call about 4:50 Eastern Time to the Crawford ranch. Now it may have been really brief, but it is important symbolically, hugely important because these two leaders have not spoken since the beginning of this crisis erupted some -- nearly a month ago.
Now Frederick Jones (ph), the spokesman for the NSC, described the conversation this way, saying that essentially Olmert thanked Mr. Bush for the work that he'd done on the U.N. Security Council draft resolution for the Lebanese crisis. That the president expressed his view that the crisis had been provoked by Hezbollah supported by Iran and Syria and that also reiterated the point that it is we as in the international community that needs to ensure that the reach of the Lebanese government extends throughout the country.
Now, Wolf, of course, the back-story here is, is that there's no accident these two leaders have not spoken in some 30 days, very deliberate here. The United States has been saying that Israel has a right to defend itself, but there was a lot of concern over the perception that the U.S. was colluding with the Israeli government, so they decided these two leaders, it would not be appropriate for them to speak until the appropriate time. That, of course, when there was a resolution that was approved when it looked like Israel was on board, and, of course, Wolf, that time has come.