Obama tells Israel he's committed to its security
SDEROT, Israel (AP) - July 23, 2008 "The way you know where somebody's going is where have they
been. And I've been with Israel for many, many years now," he said
on a day that bore striking similarities to campaigning in the
United States.
In his public remarks, Obama sidestepped a question of whether
he would condone an Israeli attack to prevent Iran from obtaining a
nuclear weapon. But he said he was confident that in several
private meetings he had not left Israeli politicians with the
impression that, if elected president, he would be "pressuring
them to accept any kinds of concessions that would put their
security at stake."
Obama packed more than a half-dozen meetings, a stop at the Yad
Vashem Holocaust memorial, a helicopter tour of the country and a
visit to a house hit by Hamas rockets into his only full day in
Israel during his trip to the Middle East and Europe.
He also rode past an Israeli checkpoint into Ramallah on the
West Bank, where he assured Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of
his support for a two-state resolution of the region's long
animosities. Later, entering a session with Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert, Obama said his talks with Abbas indicated "there's a
strong sense of progress being made" toward peace. Olmert nodded
and said, "Indeed."
Before dawn Thursday in Jerusalem, paid a predawn visit to the
holiest place in Judaism, bowing his head in prayer at the Western
Wall and pushing a small note into a crevice in the ancient wall, a
custom that is observed by many.
Obama's major focus was clearly reassuring Israelis - and by
extension millions of Jewish voters in the United States - of his
commitment to the survival of the Jewish state. He leads his
Republican rival, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, among Jewish voters,
but his support falls short of what Democrat John Kerry drew four
years ago.
Obama said Israelis could be certain of his commitment to
Israel's security by looking at "my deeds."
"Just this past week, we passed out of the U.S. Senate Banking
Committee, which is my committee, a bill to call for divestment
from Iran, as a way of ratcheting up the pressure to ensure that
they don't obtain a nuclear weapon," he said.
However, Obama does not serve on the banking committee, and
McCain's campaign seized on the mistake.
"Not only is it not his committee, but he's not even on the
committee, he didn't vote on the bill, and he had nothing to do
with its passage," McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said in a
statement issued Wednesday.
Obama's trip is financed by his presidential campaign, and he
flew to Israel from Jordan on Tuesday night about his chartered
Boeing 757 emblazoned with his trademark slogan, "Change We Can
Believe In."
If his campaign aides were looking for memorable images during
the day, they got them, from Obama donning a skullcap at the
Holocaust memorial, to President Shimon Peres saying, "God Bless
You" outside his official residence, to a stop at a house under
reconstruction in Sderot where he saw firsthand the destruction
caused by Hamas rockets.
"People are committed," he said, making a fist and thumping
his chest three times.
Shielded by intense U.S. and Israeli security, he then traveled
a short distance to the local police station. There, Defense
Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and local
officials showed him racks filled with debris from Hamas rockets
that have landed in Sderot in the past seven years. In 2005 Israel
withdrew from the Gaza Strip a mile away.
The same racks formed a made-for-television backdrop for a news
conference attended not only by U.S. reporters, but also Israelis
whose satellite trucks jammed the parking lot across the street.
Eli Moyal, the local mayor, gave Obama a souvenir T-shirt -
merely the latest he has received since he began running for
president - and the senator also came away with a gift of a piece
of rocket as artwork, attached to a wooden plaque.
Gaza Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum had a less-favorable response
to Obama's visit to Sderot:
"Hamas considers the remarks of the Democratic candidate today
to be part of the American policy of bias towards Israel and giving
legitimacy to Israeli crimes against our people. His remarks today
give cover for the occupation's nonstop crimes against our
people."
The subject of Tehran's presumed drive to gain a nuclear weapon
- and the threat that would pose to Israel - was a recurrent theme
throughout the day.
The American presidential candidate said, "Iranians need to
understand that whether it's the Bush administration or an Obama
administration, that this is a paramount concern to the United
States."
He said he favors both "big sticks and carrots" to persuade
Iranians to switch course.
"What I have also said, though, is that I will take no options
off the table in dealing with this potential Iranian threat. And
understand part of my reasoning here.
"A nuclear Iran would be a game-changing situation, not just in
the Middle East but around the world. Whatever remains of our
nuclear nonproliferation framework, I think, would begin to
disintegrate. You would have countries in the Middle East who would
see the potential need to also obtain nuclear weapons."
At his news conference, Obama brushed aside a question of
whether he had backed off his statement this spring that Jerusalem
should be the undivided capital of Israel. Palestinians also lay
claim to the city as the capital for any state they establish as
the result of peace talks, and the two sides have agreed that the
final decision is to be negotiated.
Criticized by Abbas after he made that comment, Obama
subsequently amended it. "Well, obviously, it's going to be up to
the parties to negotiate a range of these issues. And Jerusalem
will be part of those negotiations," he said. He added that "as a
practical matter, it would be very difficult to execute" a
division of the city.
Abbas issued a statement saying he and Obama had not discussed
the issue in their hour together.
Asked by an Israeli reporter about the matter, Obama said, "I
continued to say that Jerusalem will be the capital of Israel. And
I have said that before and I will say it again. And I also have
said that it is important that we don't simply slice the city in
half. But I've also said that that's a final status issue."
Obama departs on Thursday for Germany, where he is scheduled to
deliver an outdoor speech before a large crowd. He also has stops
planned for France and England before flying back to the United
States on Saturday.
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Associated Press writers Matti Friedman, Laurie Copans and Ian
Deitch contributed to this story.