Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has caused a stir on his visit to Washington by praising U.S. operations in Iraq.

Following a meeting with U.S.President Bush in the Oval Office on Monday, the Israeli prime minister told a gathering of reporters afterwards, he was encouraged and impressed by the Iraq war, which from an Israeli perspective, had brought stability to the Middle East.

Mr. Olmert also referred to Mr. Bush as "Your Excellency."

The remarks caused concern among Democrats who last week won control of the U.S. Congress. A spokesman said Democrats would be seeking clarification from Mr. Olmert of his remarks.

In his opening address at the press conference following his meeting with President Bush, Olmert said, "We in the Middle East have followed the American policy in Iraq for a long time, and we are very much impressed and encouraged by the stability which the great operation of America in Iraq brought to the Middle East."

He added, "We pray and hope that this policy will be fully successful so that this stability which was created for all the moderate countries in the Middle East will continue."

The two leaders shared their concern about Iran's nuclear program with President Bush calling for that country's isolation. His remarks contrasted with British Prime Minister Tony Blair's in a speech given on the other side of the Atlantic, in which Blair proposed dialogue with both Iran and Syria, and an end to isolation of those two countries.

Mr. Olmert supported America's position on Iran saying, "We shared thoughts about the Iranian threat. There is no question that the Iranian threat is not just a threat for Israel, but for the whole world. The fanaticism and the extremism of the Iranian government, and the fact that the leader of a nation such as Iran can threaten the very existence of another nation, as he does towards the state of Israel, is not something that we can tolerate or would ever tolerate, and certainly not when we know that he is trying to possess nuclear weapons. And I'm very encouraged by our discussion and thoughts that we have exchanged about what needs to be done in the Middle East."

Olmert also reiterated a willingness to open dialogue with Palestinian Authority Chairman Abbas, once a new unity government in formed. He also said he would be willing to talk to Syria if certain pre-conditions were met, however he said he doubted that would happen.

In concluding his opening remarks, the Israeli prime minister said, "Again, Mr. President, it's always a great joy to be with Your Excellency. And I always thank you for your friendship, your personal friendship, and even more important, your friendship for the state of Israel."