Obama presented with a T-shirt in the Israeli town that has taken the brunt of Palestinian rocket and mortar fire. (Flash90)
Democratic Presidential hopeful Obama paid a pre-dawn visit to one of Jerusalem's holiest sites, the Western Wall or Kotel abutting the site of two former Jewish temples. Under tight security, he arrived at a section of the Wall that had been cordoned off.
Shrouded in secrecy, the visit had not been announced in advance, but dozens of people were waiting in the darkness for his arrival.
Wearing a white yarmulke, the Illinois senator walked towards the site with the Rabbi of the Wall, Shmuel Rabinovich. The rabbi read Psalm 122, a "prayer for the peace of Jerusalem." He and Obama looked through a Holy Book before Obama left a note in a crack of the Wall, a custom of visitors to the site.
Obama bowed his head and placed his hand on the wall for a few moments.
CNN producer Sasha Johnson said a man creamed "Obama, Jerusalem is not for sale" despite pleas from the crowd for him to stop.
Obama in an interview with the Jerusalem Post said: "I believe that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. But I think that how Israel and the Palestinians resolve this issue is a final-status issue. It needs to be left up to the two parties." Asked whether he felt Israel had a right to maintain a presence in the West Bank -- for security, religious, historical or other reasons -- he answered firmly that Israel "should abide by previous agreements and commitments that have been made, and aggressive settlement construction would seem to violate the spirit at least, if not the letter, of agreements that have been made previously."
"Israel's security concerns," Obama went on, "have to be taken into account, via negotiation. I think the parties in previous discussions have stated that settlement construction doesn't necessarily contribute to that enhanced security. I think there are those who would argue that the more settlements there are, the more Israel has to invest in protecting those settlements, and the more tensions arise that may undermine Israel's long-term security. Ultimately, though, these are part of the discussions that have to take place between the parties."
Haaretz reported that Obama would not develop a peace plan of his own but would "move quickly" to negotiations on the basis of existing frameworks and plans. "I have had in-depth discussions today with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, and encouraged all of them to make as much progress as they can in their negotiations this year," the presumptive Democratic Party nominee added. "The next U.S. administration should... help the parties build on the progress that has been made thus far, and continue to work toward the goal of two states living side by side in peace and security."
Obama told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday evening that, if elected president, he would do "everything in my power" to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Asked about concerns that the Iranians would abuse his stated readiness for "tough diplomacy" to play for time, Obama said that his "willingness to negotiate" had "very clear and direct goals" and "a sense of urgency." So "if the Iranians fail to respond, we've stripped away whatever excuses they may have, [and] whatever rationales may exist in the international community for not ratcheting up sanctions and taking serious action."
Obama said that one of the failures of the US approach "has been to use a lot of strong rhetoric but not follow through with the kinds of both carrots and sticks that might change the calculus of the Iranian regime. But I have also said that I would not take any options off the table, including military."
Asked, therefore, whether he would support an Israeli strike on Iranian facilities in the coming months if Israel felt it had no choice but to act, Obama replied, "My goal is to avoid being confronted with that hypothetical."
On Wednesday Obama said he would be willing to meet with any leader if he thought it would promote the national security interests of the United States, but said there is a difference between "meeting without preconditions and meeting without preparations."
"That continues to be my position: that if I think that I can get a deal that is going to advance our cause, then I would consider that opportunity," he said.
"My whole goal in terms of having tough, serious direct diplomacy is not because I'm naive about the nature of any of these regimes. I'm not," Obama said.
"It is because if we show ourselves willing to talk and to offer carrots and sticks in order to deal with these pressing problems, and if Iran then rejects any overtures of that sort, it puts us in a stronger position to mobilize the international community to ratchet up the pressure on Iran." He told Israel leaders that he was prepared to offer "big carrots and big sticks" to the Iranian regime.
Following Obama's remarks, McCain's campaign accused the Democrat of shifting his position yet again and said his comments show "his refusal to admit a mistake about what he said."
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