Crawford, Tex. ? Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert thanked President Bush on Friday for his work on a resolution to stop violence between Israel and Hezbollah, the White House said. It was the first direct talks between the two leaders since the fighting began.

The eight-minute phone call with Bush at his ranch in Texas was initiated by Olmert, said Frederick Jones, spokesman for the National Security Council at the White House.

Olmert endorsed a Mideast cease-fire plan that the United States and France proposed Friday at the United Nations.

“Prime Minister Olmert thanked President Bush for the work he had done on the draft U.N. resolution on the Lebanon crisis,” Jones said.