Obama woos US Israelis hours after nomination

Says Jerusalem must be undivided Israeli capital

WASHINTGON (AFP)

Hours after winning the Democratic nomination for president of the United States, Barack Obama said Wednesday that Jerusalem must remain the "undivided" capital of Israel in a speech to a powerful U.S.-Israel lobby group.

"Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided," Obama told the vast annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Council (AIPAC).

Addressing the group in almost his first act since claiming the Democratic nomination late Tuesday, Obama said he was a "true friend" of Israel and that the U.S. bond with the Jewish state was "unbreakable."

"As president I will never compromise when it comes to Israel's security," Obama said in Washington, his image emblazoned across eight massive cinema-style screens.

Republicans have hammered Obama over his offer to talk to leaders of U.S. foe Iran, saying the strategy ignores repeated warnings by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to destroy Israel.

But he said it was time to abandon Middle East policies of President George W. Bush, which he said had made Israel less safe, and accused Republican presumptive nominee John McCain of wanting to prolong them.

"There are those who would continue and intensify this failed status quo, ignoring eight years of accumulated evidence that our foreign policy is dangerously flawed," Obama said.

Obama warned Islamist movement Hamas must renounce violence, pledged to stand up for Israel's right to defend itself at the United Nations and to provide the Jewish state the means to guarantee its security.

"We must isolate Hamas unless and until they renounce terrorism, recognize Israel's right to exist, and abide by past agreements. There is no room at the negotiating table for terrorist organizations."

He said he would push for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal if elected president in November.

Democratic nominee

On Tuesday, Obama staked his claim to be the first black U.S. presidential nominee in history and pledged to America "this is our time."

"Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States," he told 19,000 delirious supporters packed into a victory rally at a stadium here.

"America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past," the Illinois senator vowed in a stirring speech, after securing the 2,118 delegates needed to clinch the party's nomination.

The crowd roared its approval, waving U.S. flags and blue signs calling for "change we can believe in." A further 3,000 to 4,000 watched from outside.

At the end of the grueling 17-month primary campaign, the longest and most expensive ever, Obama, 46, was effusive in his praise for his defeated rival, former first lady Hillary Clinton, saying she, too, had made history.

"She's a leader who inspires millions of Americans with her strength, her courage, and her commitment to the causes that brought us here tonight," he said.

But he minced no words about his Republican adversary Senator McCain, who had earlier officially launched the general election campaign by dismissing the Democrat's clarion call of hope and change.

"John McCain has spent a lot of time talking about trips to Iraq in the last few weeks, but maybe if he spent some time taking trips to the cities and towns that have been hardest hit by this economy... he'd understand the kind of change that people are looking for."

He also slammed McCain over his policy in the Iraq war, claiming once again that the Arizona senator wanted to keep U.S. troops there for a century.

"I won't stand here and pretend that there are many good options left in Iraq, but what's not an option is leaving our troops in that country for the next hundred years," he said.

"We must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in -- but start leaving we must."