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Thu Jul 24, 2008 at 02:44:44 AM EDT
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( - promoted by campskunk)
From Jake Tapper, many posts from Obama's visit. Looks like a grueling day and a half - he met with many leaders, bureaucrats, rabbis. Few, if any, rock star moments. And at his first stop he admitted he was tired! (Since the media will deliver the highlights, below are some less flattering moments.)
Post #1 - 1 Nap Time, 2 Reporter-avoids, 1 Tutorial, 1 Clarification.
[Nap Time] The next meeting was with Knesset member/Likud Party Chair Benjamin Netanyahu, who asked Obama how he was feeling.
"I could fall asleep standing up," Obama said, according to Bloomberg News' Tel Aviv correspondent Jonathan Ferziger.
[Reporter-avoid]:
Obama advisers Steinberg, Danzig, Shapiro and Dr. Susan Rice met with Bibi as well. Bibi was joined by former Ambassador Dore Gold; former national security adviser Uzi Arad; Zalman Shoval, former ambassador to U.S.; Netanyahu's counselor Ron Derner and Netanyahu chief of staff Ari Harrow
"Mr. Obama?" asked one of the reporters in the small pool permitted into these meetings.
"There's not going to be any questions now," Obama said. And the reporters were escorted out.
(As Rabbi Hillel said, "If not now, when?")
[Tutorial] "The Senator and I agreed that the primacy of preventing iran from becoming a nuclear power is clear and this should guide our mutual policies." He said he told Obama that "achieving this goal is more important than how you achieve it, but it's terribly important to achieve it."
[Clarification]
Amidst some reports questioning whether the Palestinians would be in charge of Obama's security while in the West Bank, Dr. Rice underscored this morning that the U.S. Secret Service will be in charge as it has been this entire trip.
[Reporter-avoid] Obama will visit a police station there, where a number of rockets that have fallen are on display. Reporters may or may not get to ask Obama a question or two in Sderot.
3 more posts from Israel on the flip ... |
| catfish :: Obama Heckled in Israel; Clarifies More Statements; Tells Netenyahu He's Sleepy |
| Post 2 - 2 Reporter-avoids; 1 Tutorial.
[Reporter-avoid]
Obama left his hotel this morning, traveling in a bullet-proof limousine that was part of a nine-car motorcade. Upon arrival at Yad Vashem, Obama was greeted by Avner Shalev, chairman of Yad Vashem.
An Israeli journalist called out to Obama: "Can you ensure that there will be no second Holocaust?"
Obama walked into the museum's main building without responding.
[Reporter-avoid]
Once again an Israeli journalist asked the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee how he'd help prevent a second Holocaust. "Senator can you assure Israel that there will be no second Holocaust despite Iran's threat to wipe us off the map?" he asked.
Obama demurred, saying that it wasn't appropriate to answer the question there.
"This is Yad Vashem!" the journalist responded.
Obama said he would answer the question at a later press availability.
[Newly found humility?]
The Democrat said he was in Israel "to reaffirm the special relationship between Israel and the United States, my abiding commitment to Israel's security and I hope I can serve as an effective partner whether as a United States senator or as a president, in bringing about a more lasting peace in the region."
[Tutorial]
The two entered Beit HaNasi where Peres started describing an important book he read that contrasted the merits of socialism versus capitalism, which he recommended to the young senator whose books Peres found to be full of a moving humanity.
Post 3 - 1 Clarification.
[Clarification]
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, issued a statement clarifying that he and Palestinian National Authority officials didn't discuss Jerusalem during their meeting today.
"Senator Obama did not discuss Jerusalem in the meeting with President Abbas, Prime Minister Fayyad and their colleagues," Obama senior adviser Robert Gibbs said in a statement. "His position on the issue was never raised."
Post 4 - 1 Clarification
[Funny] Her daughter, 22-year-old Tamar, gave Defense Minister Ehud Barak a hug, and said: "I want to say something about this gorgeous man. You give us a lot of strength. I don't know what I'd do without you."
Obama joked that he wasn't sure that Barak is "that gorgeous," but agreed he's a "good" and "strong" man. The Amar family gave Obama a flower arrangement and a framed photo of their destroyed home
[Clarification]
The first question Obama was asked challenged him on his shift from declaring before a convention of the American Jewish pro-Israel group AIPAC that he supported an "undivided Jerusalem," a declaration he backed off just days later. How can Israelis know he won't change other positions, he was asked.
"First of all, I didn't change my statement," Obama said, though he clearly has backed off the term "undivided Jerusalem," which means that Israel will not make any land concessions when it comes to Jerusalem. The Palestinian National Authority would like the capital of a future Palestinian state to be East Jerusalem, which has only been part of Israel since 1967.
[Kudos - he actually answers a few more questions from reporters.]
Post 5 - Obama visits the Wall before dawn; is greeted by a heckler.
[Heckler]
The pre-dawn sky was dark.
And then one man at the Wall began screaming: "Obama, Jerusalem is our land! Obama, Jerusalem is not for sale!"
He kept yelling this for Obama's entire 10 minutes at the Wall, refusing to stop despite repeated entreaties to do so from the crowd.
Is it Friday yet? Soon he'll meet his audience of one million Germans. |
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"Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. When you stumble, keep faith. When you?re knocked down, get right back up. And NEVER listen to anyone who says you can't or shouldn't go on."
Hillary Clinton - June 7, 2008
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