News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Knesset Member Prof. Aryeh Eldad (National Union) charged Monday morning that Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama would be "one of the worst American presidents" for Israel. He told the Hebrew news site Walla that he fears the Jewish vote might help Sen. Obama win the presidency because they "prefer their personal interests" and not those of the Jewish state.
 
MK Yuval Steinitz (Likud) also criticized Sen. Obama, who strengthened his previous backtrack from a statement that Jerusalem is Israel's undivided capital. MK Steinitz maintained that Arab countries would exploit dividing the city to raise tensions in the entire Middle East.

MK Zahava Gal-On (Meretz) praised Sen. Obama for backing off from his original statement and said that he understands that compromise is necessary to settle the status of Jerusalem.