JERUSALEM Ñ The United States Ñ in the wake of a public appeal from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Ñ has briefed Israel on Washington's military campaign against terrorism.

Sharon late last week publicly urged Washington not to sacrifice the Jewish state in efforts to form an international coalition against terrorism.

The briefing, officials said, allowed Israel to prepare for the U.S.-led military offensive. On Sunday, the officials said, President George Bush telephoned Sharon and briefed him on the imminent attack minutes before it began.

Israeli officials said the briefing included a series of telephone calls from U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Israel, the officials said, requested only early-warning of any threat against the Jewish state. The officials said that Israel is not under direct threat in the aftermath of the U.S. and British attack on Afghanistan.

In response, the United States asked Israel for intelligence aid, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said.

Sharon's appeal Ñ in which he compared Israel's position to that of Czechoslovakia in 1938 Ñ was said to have stemmed from what aides termed as Washington's refusal to coordinate with Israel regarding the anti-terrorism campaign. Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld refused to arrive in Israel on a Middle East tour.

On Sunday, a suicide bomber blew himself up in northern Israel outside a kibbutz. An Israeli was killed.

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