Region | Palestinian Territories
Obama backs Israel on Jerusalem, toughens Iran stance
Barack Obama toughened his terms for diplomacy with Iran and backed Israel's stance on Jerusalem on Wednesday in his first foreign policy speech since capturing the Democratic nomination for US president.
- Reuters
- Published: 08:50 June 5, 2008
- Palestinian leaders reacted with anger and dismay to Barack Obama's pledge that Jerusalem should be Israel's undivided capital.
- Image Credit: Reuters
Washington: Barack Obama toughened his terms for diplomacy with Iran and backed Israel's stance on Jerusalem on Wednesday in his first foreign policy speech since capturing the Democratic nomination for US president.
The Illinois senator vowed to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and insisted Jerusalem should be the undivided capital of the Jewish state in a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobby group.
Obama, who clinched the nomination on Tuesday, has faced wariness among Jewish voters over his commitment to Israel, buoyed partly by a rumor campaign suggesting he is a Muslim and that his advisers have a pro-Arab bent.
Obama, a Christian, vowed in his speech to work for peace with a Palestinian state alongside Israel. His campaign has tried to dispel suggestions he might pressure Israel in negotiations more than his rival, Republican Sen. John McCain.
"Let me be clear. Israel's security is sacrosanct. It is nonnegotiable. The Palestinians need a state that is contiguous and cohesive, and that allows them to prosper," Obama said.
"But any agreement with the Palestinian people must preserve Israel's identity as a Jewish state, with secure, recognized and defensible borders. Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided," he said.
Israel calls the city its undivided and eternal capital, but this status has never been recognized internationally. Palestinians want East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, for a future capital.
The issue is central to peace negotiations President George W. Bush hopes to conclude before he steps down in January. Americans elect his successor on November 4.
Meanwhile, Palestinian leaders reacted with anger and dismay on Wednesday to Barack Obama's pledge that Jerusalem should be Israel's undivided capital.
President Mahmoud Abbas rejected Obama's pledge to American Jewish leaders and he repeated his demand for a Palestinian state with Arab East Jerusalem as its capital.
"This statement is totally rejected," Abbas told reporters in the West Bank administrative centre of Ramallah.
"The whole world knows that East Jerusalem, holy Jerusalem, was occupied in 1967 and we will not accept a Palestinian state without having Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state."
Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said Palestinian negotiators engaged in US-sponsored peace talks would continue to insist on securing East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as their capital. He said of Obama: "He has closed all doors to peace."
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