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Obama calls Israel a 'miracle', vows staunch support

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-07-23 22:55

JERUSALEM - US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama pledged staunch support for Israel on Wednesday in Jerusalem, describing the Jewish state as a miracle and holding only a low-profile meeting with Palestinian leaders.

US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) (2nd L) meets Israel's President Shimon Peres (2nd R) in Jerusalem July 23, 2008. [Agencies]

Obama, who is seeking to allay wariness among some US Jewish voters about his policy towards Israel, said in comments to reporters he hoped to help bring peace in the Middle East.

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"I'm here on this trip to reaffirm the special relationship between Israel and the United States, my abiding commitment to its security, and my hope that I can serve as an effective partner, whether as a ... senator or as a president, in bringing about a more lasting peace in the region," he said.

The Illinois senator, meeting Israeli President Shimon Peres, described Israel as a "miracle that has blossomed" since its founding 60 years ago. Wearing a Jewish skullcap, he later laid a white wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum.

"Let our children come here and know this history so that they can add their voices to proclaim 'never again'," Obama wrote in the museum's visitors' book.

The Democratic candidate met Defence Minister Ehud Barak and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu and will later hold talks with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who could be forced out of office by a corruption probe.

Tight security

Avoiding a high-profile trip to the occupied West Bank that could alienate the Jewish voters he needs to court, Obama did not make a statement after an hour-long meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah.

Aides said he would release a written statement later.

Hundreds of helmeted Palestinian security officers with automatic rifles lined the streets as Obama drove into the city from Jerusalem. His black motorcade passed Israel's towering West Bank barrier and hilltop Jewish settlements en route, testament to the thorny issues that have confounded generations of would-be peacemakers.

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