FILE PHOTO OF WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY FLEISCHER, 2002-02-07 (photo)

Although his job is to speak to the press as President George W. Bush's spokesman, reporters were barred when White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer addressed the Middle East crisis and other issues in a talk at a Texas synagogue, participants said April 27, 2002. "We were just trying to cater to his wishes," said Ellan Burke, a board member at Waco's Temple Rodef Shalom who helped arrange the appearance, which she said the White House had requested to be off the record. She said Fleischer, who is Jewish, spoke at temple services Friday night about his White House job and U.S. support for Israel. Fleischer answers a reporter's in the Briefing Room at the White House in this February 7, 2002 file photo. REUTERS/William Philpott-Files WP/HB