Barack Obama meets with leaders in Israel and Palestinian territories
With much of the fanfare of a visiting head of state, Barack Obama met today with top political leaders in Israel and the Palestinian territories and paid a solemn visit to Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust museum.
The Illinois senator saw President Shimon Peres at his home in Jerusalem, then set out for Ramallah, where he met for an hour with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. He flew by helicopter this afternoon to the rocket-battered town of Sderot in southern Israel.
"I'm here on this trip to reaffirm the special relationship between Israel and the United States, my abiding commitment to Israel's security, and my hope that I can serve as an effective partner . . . in bringing about a more lasting peace in the region," Obama said before his meeting with Peres.
Peres urged Obama to strive "to be a great president of the United States."
"Senator, I have read your two books and was moved as a human being," Peres told the Democratic Party's presidential nominee-in-waiting.
At a press conference at Sderot, Obama mentioned that he had met a young boy who lost a leg to a Palestinian rocket, and said he admired the "resilience" of the Israelis who persevere there despite such attacks.
Asked whether he has changed his views about the future of Jerusalem, Obama said "I continue to say that Jerusalem will be the capital of Israel," but added "that's an issue that has to be dealt with with the parties involved, the Palestinians and the Israelis, and it's not the job of the United States to dictate the form in which that will take, but rather to support the efforts that are being made right now to resolve these very difficult issues that have a long history."
As to whether he would support an Israeli attack on Iran, Obama said he wanted to "avoid the hypothetical by moving rapidly to mobilize the international community to offer a series of big sticks and big carrots to the Iranian regime to stand down on nuclear weapons." But like the man he is seeking to succeed as president, George W. Bush, he added that "I will take no options off the table in dealing with this potential Iranian threat."
Obama's hectic visit to Israel was part of a nine-day trip abroad that has drawn intense media coverage, sparking complaints of media bias from his Republican rival John McCain. The stops in Israel also carried relatively high political risk; advisors were acutely aware of its potential impact on Jewish voters back home.
