Jerusalem ? Bolstered by U.S. support for Israel’s bombing raid in Syria, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Tuesday his nation wouldn’t hesitate to attack its enemies anywhere — heightening concerns it may widen the Palestinian conflict by again striking countries it accuses of harboring terrorists.

Since the attack Sunday on the reputed Islamic Jihad training camp in Syria, the regional conflict has already escalated with shooting and mortar fire across the border between Israel and Lebanon, where Syria is the main power-broker.

An Israeli staff sergeant who also held U.S. citizenship was killed Monday in a shooting Israel blamed on Hezbollah, the Shiite Muslim guerrilla group that is backed by Syria and predominantly Shiite Iran. The Israeli military said it Tuesday raised its state of readiness on the Lebanese border because of the increased tension.

Sharon’s vow to pursue militants wherever they are also came after Israel accused Syria and Iran of providing key backing to Islamic Jihad, the militant group that claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 19 people Saturday in the Israeli port city of Haifa.

“Israel will not be deterred from protecting its citizens and will strike its enemies in every place and in every way,” Sharon said, emphasizing that Israel must prepare “as if the next war is waiting just around the corner.”

“We are not immune to surprises,” he said at a memorial service for Israeli soldiers killed during the 1973 Middle East war with Syria and Egypt. “Only if we are forever ready will we reach peace, and we will reach it.”

President Bush said Tuesday the Israeli airstrike was part of an “essential” campaign to defend the country, and drew a parallel between Sharon’s actions and U.S. policy on terrorism.

“The decisions he makes to defend (Israel’s) people are valid decisions,” Bush said. “We would be doing the same thing.”