The White House said the comment was not a reference to Obama and Bush was simply reiterating his longstanding views.

Bush made the remarks in a lengthy speech in which he painted a picture of the future Middle East as a place of “tolerance and integration.”

As Israelis celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Israeli state — an event Palestinians were marking Thursday as “the nakba,” with rallies and the launch of thousands of black balloons — Bush did not use his time before the Knesset, the Parliament, to discuss the differing Israeli and Palestinian versions of the events of 1948.

Instead, he drew parallels to the transformations of Europe and Japan after World War II, and in his speech touched on themes familiar to him, including the triumph of democracy over terrorism. He predicted “free and independent societies” across the region. “Iran and Syria,” he said, “will be peaceful nations, where today’s oppression is a distant memory.” Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Hamas “will be defeated,” he said.