Although their relations have been extremely strained in recent days, President Bush telephoned the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, before the attack on Afghanistan to give him advance warning.
Delighted by that intimate display of partnership, Israeli officials were further pleased by the content of the president's speech to his nation, in which Mr Bush spoke of a "patient" and "broader" campaign against terrorism.
Israeli officials say they hope this wider campaign will ultimately extend to rein in regimes such as those in Syria and Iran, which the US has defined as sponsors of terrorism, and those in Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority, from whose territory groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, branded as terrorist by the US, continue to operate.
There were several factors clouding the horizon in Israel, however, including the broadcast of recorded remarks by Osama bin Laden directly linking the escalating conflict with Israeli policy vis-α-vis the Palestinians and vowing that there would be no peace for the US until there was peace in Palestine.
Bin Laden spoke of "the tanks of Israel" which were "spreading slaughter in Palestine . . . and nobody raises a finger". Israel's greatest fear is that this war might come to be perceived as having germinated in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and that this would eventually lead to US pressure on Israel to resolve that dispute on what it would consider unfavourable terms.
Indeed, even before the attack had begun last night, the Israeli media was widely reporting a new survey published by Newsweek magazine, which indicated that 58 per cent of Americans consider their country's relationship with Israel to have been a large contributing factor in the September 11th bombings, and that 46 per cent believe the US should consider changing its policies in the Middle East. Still, 61 per cent of those polled opposed a reduction of US ties to Israel.