Europe should stop "preaching" to Israel about the number of Lebanese civilian casualties in its war against Hizbullah, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has said.
Mr Olmert suggested that European criticism of Israel's tactics in Lebanon wasn't motivated by anti-Semitism, but by "prejudice and short-sightedness".
"Where do they get the right to preach to Israel?" asked Mr Olmert in Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
"The European countries attacked Kosovo and killed 10,000 civilians. Ten thousand! And none of these countries had to suffer a single rocket [ attack] beforehand.
"I'm not saying it was wrong to intervene in Kosovo, but please: don't preach to us about the treatment of civilians," he said.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) estimates that 500 civilians were killed in the 78 days of Nato air strikes on Kosovo in 1999.
William Arkin, an expert on civilian casualties who produced the HRW Kosovo report, suggested Mr Olmert's figure of 10,000 deaths arises by conflating all civilian deaths before and during the Kosovo war - including civilians killed by Serbs.
"There's obviously some spin going on. The fact that the Israeli government is so ignorant about this question should concern everyone," he said.
"The Israelis think there is a measure that is okay. It provides them with some degree of justification where they can say, 'see, we're not killing as many civilians'."
Mr Olmert's criticism of Europe in the German interview contrasted with his praise for the US government.
"They don't criticise us," he said. "I wish other countries had the courage of President George W Bush to say the truth."
The Israeli leader said he did not regret the war because Israel had been far more successful than any other country at fighting the guerrilla organisation.
"The question is: if Hizbullah had known the consequences of their actions would they have still done it? I think not."
Mr Olmert rejected the suggestion that Israel was making itself hated in Lebanon by destroying the country's infrastructure and killing civilians.
"They hated Israel anyway, they gave shelter to Hizbullah," he said. "Some even hid the launch ramps for rockets in their houses to help Hizbullah."
The Israeli leader said that if necessary, he would ask Germany to join a UN peacekeeping troop in Lebanon.
"If such a request is necessary, I will talk to [chancellor] Angela Merkel," he said.