JERUSALEM (AP) — On a day that included a meeting with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank, President Barack Obama has urged Israelis to recognize that compromise will be necessary in order for them to achieve lasting security.
In a speech to Israeli university students in Jerusalem, Obama declared again that Israeli expansion of housing settlements in disputed territory only hurts chances for fruitful negotiations with the Palestinians. But he didn't say, as he has in the past, that those settlements must be stopped.
Obama told the students that the United States is their country's best friend and most important ally. He said the U.S. will never back down on its commitment to Israel's defense -- particularly against threats such as the one posed by Iran and its nuclear program.
He received frequent applause from many of the students in the audience -- even when he stressed that Israel must make peace with the Palestinians to ensure its survival as a homeland for the Jewish people. He said Israeli occupation of areas that the Palestinians claim as their own state must end.
Earlier, standing alongside Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank, Obama made similar comments. And he condemned the firing of two rockets on southern Israel by militants in Gaza. But he essentially abandoned his previous support for the Palestinian demand that settlement activity end before talks resume.
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233-w-36-(Mark Smith, AP White House correspondent, with President Obama)--President Obama is warning Israelis that continued settlement-building is blocking the path to peace. AP White House Correspondent Mark Smith reports. (21 Mar 2013)
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216-a-11-(President Obama, in speech to Israeli university students)-"from inflicting harm (applause fades)"-President Obama says peace is the only path toward security for Israel. (21 Mar 2013)
<<CUT *216 (03/21/13)>> 00:11 "from inflicting harm (applause fades)"
212-a-10-(President Obama, in speech to Israeli university students)-"from their homes (applause fades)"-President Obama says the Palestinians have a right to self-determination and better treatment. (21 Mar 2013)
<<CUT *212 (03/21/13)>> 00:10 "from their homes (applause fades)"
GRAPHICSBANK: Barack Obama, as US President, speaks in the West Bank city of Ramallah, graphic element on gray (21 Mar 2013)
APPHOTO ISRM126: President Barack Obama shakes hands with Israeli President Shimon Peres after Peres presented him the Israeli Medal of Distinction, Thursday, March 21, 2013, at a State Dinner at President's residence in Jerusalem, Israel. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) (21 Mar 2013)
<<APPHOTO ISRM126 (03/21/13)>>
