Obama pledges to be a friend of Jews and Israel

Senator Barack Obama has told Jewish leaders in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that as president he would be a friend of American Jews and the State of Israel. The candidate for the Democratic nomination said his links to the Jewish community predated his entry into politics and would extend beyond this campaign. Obama also addressed the inflammatory remarks of the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, his former pastor. "I want to be clear that not only do I absolutely reject the anti-American statements of my former pastor, I reject the anti-Israel statements as well," he said.

Obama added that he would bring "an unshakable commitment to Israel's security" to the White House and that he disagreed with former US president Jimmy Carter's decision to meet with the Palestinian organization Hamas, calling it "a terrorist group intent on Israel's destruction." Carter had said he would support Obama in the run for the White House.

Barack Obama also told Jewish leaders that he opposed the "right of return" of Palestinian refugees who left Israel at its founding . Accepting that idea, he said, "would extinguish the Jewish state, and that's not an option." The Illinois senator spent the bulk of the 50-minute meeting answering questions, most of which focused on Israel and the Middle East.

Obama will face Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary in the state of Pennsylvania on 22 April.