US Democratic presumptive nominee Barack Obama said Wednesday that Jerusalem must remain the "undivided" capital of Israel in a speech to a powerful US-Israel lobby group here."Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided," Obama told the vast annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Council (AIPAC).
Addressing the group in almost his first act since claiming the Democratic nomination late Tuesday, Obama said he was a "true friend" of Israel and that the US bond with the Jewish state was "unbreakable."
Obama drew a standing ovation as he arrived to address the mighty US-Israel lobby, and also addressed perceived suspicion of him in some sectors of the Jewish community. "As president I will never compromise when it comes to Israel's security," Obama said. He said in the strikingly pro-Israel speech that the US bond with the Jewish state was "unbreakable today, unbreakable tomorrow, unbreakable for ever," adding he was speaking from his heart as a "true friend" of Israel.
| But his friends aren't, and they're the ones who got him to where he is today. Expect 'new flexibility' should he win the election; the kind of flexibility he won't show over Iraq. |
But he said it was time to abandon Middle East policies of President George W. Bush, which he said had made Israel less safe, and accused Republican presumptive nominee John McCain of wanting to prolong them. "There are those who would continue and intensify this failed status quo, ignoring eight years of accumulated evidence that our foreign policy is dangerously flawed," Obama said.
Obama warned Islamist movement Hamas must renounce violence, pledged to stand up for Israel's right to defend itself at the United Nations and to provide the Jewish state the means to guarantee its security. "We must isolate Hamas unless and until they renounce terrorism, recognize Israel's right to exist, and abide by past agreements. There is no room at the negotiating table for terrorist organizations."
| Really? And what will you do if Hamas tells you to go pound sand? |
| Oh. That's what. |
| Hamas has already made clear they want Israel to be extirpated. It isn't clear that Obama really understands that. |