"If the Palestinian Authority does not perform its duties we will do so in its stead," Sharon told the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
He evidently expected a formal protest from the White House, but quiet understanding behind the scenes. Instead, he got an enraged phone call from Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice.
"The timing was bad for Sharon because Bush is focused on Israel and the Palestinians right now," said one diplomat. "Bush sees this as sticking up two fingers. Now Sharon will have to do something to convince Bush he is not trying to torpedo the road map. That may require him to get on with dismantling the outposts with more energy."
Skeptics note a pattern of Israeli assassinations at crucial moments in the peace efforts. In January and July last year, and March this year, the army's assassination of senior Hamas or Tanzim commanders broke weeks without Palestinian attacks and efforts to establish a ceasefire.
Sharon dismissed the criticism.
"What did they want, that I not protect the Jews? I've been doing that since the dawn of my youth, for over 55 years," he told Yedioth Ahronoth.
But from the smouldering wreckage of the bus in central Jerusalem on Wednesday rose new questions about whether Israel's leader is saving Jewish lives or sacrificing them.
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