Obama clarifies Jerusalem remark

By JTA

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WASHINGTON (JTA)—U.S. Sen. Barack Obama clarified his recent comments on Jerusalem remaining the undivided capital of Israel.

“You know, the truth is that this was an example where we had some poor phrasing in the speech, and we immediately tried to correct the interpretation that was given,” Obama (D-Ill.), the presumptive Democratic candidate for president, said July 13 during an interview on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria—GPS.”

“The point we were simply making was ... that we don’t want barbed wire running through Jerusalem, similar to the way it was prior to the ’67 war, that it is possible for us to create a Jerusalem that is cohesive and coherent. I was not trying to predetermine what are essentially final-status issues.”

Obama said during a speech in June to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that if he is elected president, “Jerusalem would remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided.”

The Palestinians insist that east Jerusalem should be the capital of a future Palestinian state.

In 1967, Israel recaptured the area, which includes the Western Wall, the holiest spot for Jews.