Bush Praises Israelis for Restraint Over Attack : Reaction: Pentagon officials fear that second Iraqi onslaught may provoke a military response.

After an intense round of diplomacy to keep Israel out of the Persian Gulf War, President Bush praised Israeli restraint Friday in response to the first Iraqi missile attack and pledged an exhaustive effort to hunt down and destroy Saddam Hussein’s missile launchers.

In his first news conference since the war began early Thursday morning, Bush also warned, as he has in other settings, that “there will be losses” in the gulf conflict. “There will be obstacles along the way. War is never cheap or easy,” he said.

The Administration appeared to go to great lengths to head off an Israeli military response after Iraq fired eight Scud missiles at Israel with five of them hitting populated areas in the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa on Friday morning.

The attack “was purely an act of terror--it had absolutely no military significance,” Bush said.

“Our defense people are in touch with our commanders to be sure that we are doing the utmost we can to suppress any of these missile sites that might wreak havoc not just on Israel but on other countries that are not involved in this fighting.

“We are going to be redoubling our efforts in the darnedest search-and-destroy effort that’s ever been undertaken out in that area,” Bush said. “And I hope that that is very reassuring to the citizens of Israel.”

The President’s remarks reflected the Administration’s concern that Israel not take matters into its own hands by retaliating, a step that could prompt some Arab nations to abandon the anti-Iraq coalition rather than fight a war on the same side as Israel.

Pentagon officials have expressed concern that a second round of Iraqi attacks on Israel--which did occur this morning Tel Aviv time--would be certain to invite an Israeli military response.

Bush went to the Pentagon for a military briefing before flying to Camp David, Md., for the weekend.

In his news conference before the second attack, the President told reporters that the United States had not tried to stop any Israeli response. Jet fighters had been seen taking off from Israel shortly after Friday’s missile strikes, raising speculation that they were being dispatched toward Iraq, but there was no report of an Israeli raid.

Asked whether the United States was trying to kill Hussein, Bush replied, “We are not targeting any individual.” The presidential palace was among the sites struck during the intense bombing raids on Baghdad, the Pentagon has said.

Bush also said that Hussein’s chemical weapons have been dispersed, making it more difficult to destroy them in bombing and missile attacks. “I can’t say that every chemical weapon has been destroyed,” he said.

Even though Operation Desert Storm is going “exceptionally well” militarily, the President said, “it isn’t going to be that easy all the time.”

Referring to the toll the constant pounding is inflicting on Iraq, Bush said: “As each hour goes by, they are going to be relatively less able to respond. I say that with no bravado. I just simply say that because that’s what’s happening over there.”

Among the President’s telephone calls Friday was a 45-minute conversation with Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who a White House official said was “quite alarmed” by the missile attack. United Nations sources said the Soviet ambassador in Baghdad, Viktor V. Posuvalyuk, met with Hussein in the presidential bunker Friday morning, several hours after the first missile attack, and criticized Iraq for the launching.

Bush also spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, following up two conversations that Secretary of State James A. Baker III had with the Israeli leader during a period of intense diplomacy in the immediate aftermath of the initial missile attack.

An Israeli Embassy official here confirmed that Baker had asked Shamir not to retaliate. The official said Shamir listened but did not commit himself.

The Iraqi missiles remain a serious concern. A participant in a military briefing for members of Congress said Iraq still has 500 to 800 missiles, which could be dispatched from mobile launchers kept in hiding from U.S. surveillance during the day, and which possibly could be equipped with chemical warheads.

The launchers “are certainly a hot target and we’re pursuing them,” Sen. Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.) said after a military briefing. “Two successful days (of air attacks) are not enough.”

A 25-minute missile alert cleared Israeli streets Friday before it was determined to be a false alarm. A Pentagon official said the alert reflected the high degree of intelligence-sharing between the United States and Israel, which was given immediate warning that a U.S. intelligence satellite had picked up suspicious activity.

The official said later that the object detected by the satellite and feared to be an incoming Iraqi missile turned out to be an old Soviet satellite, or “space garbage,” burning up as it entered the Earth’s atmosphere.

It was unclear if a similar warning was made before the second attack.

Bush said the first attack on Israel demonstrated that “no neighbor of Iraq is safe.” Besides the eight missiles fired at Israel, one Scud was fired at Saudi Arabia and was destroyed in flight by a U.S. Patriot anti-missile defense system.

“Prime Minister Shamir and his government have shown great understanding for the interests of the United States and the interest of others involved in this coalition,” Bush said, referring to the 28-nation alliance against Iraq.

The U.S. response is the mirror image of the Iraqi objective. Washington knows that a few lightly armed Scuds will do no real military damage. The U.S. government also realizes that Israeli participation in the war against Iraq would have only a marginal impact on the fighting. The United States sought to talk Israel out of retaliating Friday because of concern that Israeli participation would split the Arab members from the anti-Iraq alliance.

As for Israel, the decision on retaliation is almost totally political. Hawkish members of Shamir’s Likud Party maintain that the Jewish state should never let an attack go unavenged. On the other hand, the Jerusalem government would prefer not to damage its relationship with Washington if it can avoid it.

Nevertheless, it is not entirely clear what Israel could do to retaliate effectively short of a major military assault, because a few Israeli planes hitting an Iraqi target or two would hardly be noticed in the massive allied bombardment already in progress.

Staff writers Melissa Healy, Doyle McManus, Paul Houston, William J. Eaton and Oswald Johnston in Washington and John Goldman at the United Nations contributed to this report.