Obama, Clinton exchange praise and offer pro-Israel pledges to lobby group

WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama and his bowed but unbroken party rival Hillary Clinton took measured steps toward reconciliation Wednesday, praising each other's campaign efforts in back-to-back speeches before a powerful pro-Israel lobbying group.

Obama used his speech to lay out a comprehensive Middle East policy, pledging his "unshakable commitment" to Israel and to efforts to free Americans from what he called "the tyranny of oil."

In tough talk meant to clarify his position on Iran, Obama called the Persian Gulf oil giant a grave threat to U.S. interests and vowed to do everything in his power to block Tehran's efforts to acquire nuclear arms.

Kicking off day one of his general election campaign, Obama hailed Clinton as "an extraordinary public servant," paying tribute to the competitive race she ran against him.

"She is a great senator from New York. She is an extraordinary leader of the Democratic Party, and she has made history alongside me over the last 16 months," Obama told a largely Jewish audience of some 7,000 attending the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington. "I'm very proud to have competed against her."

Stepping up to the same podium minutes after Obama left the dais, Clinton reciprocated.

"It has been an honor to contest these primaries with him. It is an honor to call him my friend," she said, going on to lend her support to Obama's claim to be a staunch supporter of Israel.

"I know that Senator Obama shares my view that the next president must be ready to say to the world: America's position is unchanging, our resolve unyielding, our stance nonnegotiable. The United States stands with Israel - now and forever."

Apart from that, Clinton made no mention of the bruising campaign battle that has pitted the two Democrats against each other. She made only implied references to the toll it has taken on her.

"As a senator from New York," she said, pausing to clear a hoarse voice before adding as an aside, "who has talked way too much."

Clinton underscored her own support for the Jewish state, recalling a memoir written by Golda Meir in which the former Israeli prime minister describes taking a late night phone call and wondering what bad news might await.

"Doesn't that sound familiar?" Clinton said to laughter.

Her speech concluded with a sustained ovation that seemed as much a tribute to her historic primary campaign as to her history of support for Israel.

"Go forth," she admonished the crowd, "and speak up for what you know is right."

At no time were Clinton and Obama on the dais together.

Obama went to pains to shake hands and exchange brief greetings with every one of the 40-odd APAIC board members and others on the dais before exiting the room. Clinton exchanged handshakes and hugs with a handful of people before leaving the stage.

Obama has faced the greater challenge in appealing to Jewish voters, some of whom have cited the heritage of his father - who grew up in a Muslim village in Kenya - as one factor in their appraisal of his candidacy.

He addressed head-on incendiary e-mails that have circulated among some Jewish communities, saying the messages are "filled with tall tales and dire warnings" about his candidacy.

"Let me know if you see this guy named Barack Obama, because he sounds pretty scary," the candidate said, tongue in cheek. "But if anybody has been confused by these e-mails, I want you to know that today I will be speaking from my heart and as a true friend of Israel."

Obama has also been criticized by some of Israel's supporters, Democrats and Republicans alike, for saying earlier this year that he would sit down for talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, among others the Bush administration regards as pariahs.

He sought to clarify that position on Wednesday.

"The danger from Iran is grave, it is real, and my goal will be to eliminate this threat," Obama said. "I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."

He faulted the Bush administration for what the candidate called "limited, piecemeal talks," led by British and other European diplomats.

"It has not worked," said Obama. "It is time for the United States to lead."

Obama, though, said he would not take military action off the table as an option against Iran, but insisted that he would not order strikes without first exhausting all diplomatic possibilities.

"Contrary to the claims of some, I have no interest in sitting down with our adversaries just for the sake of talking," he said. "But, as president of the United States, I would be willing to lead tough and principled diplomacy with the appropriate Iranian leaders at a time and place of my choosing, if and only if it can advance the interests of the United States."

At several points in his speech, Obama sought to turn his background to his advantage, calling on the memory of a great uncle from Kansas who was among the first American troops to liberate Jews held captive in Nazi concentration camps at the end of World War II.

Owing to his own search for roots as the son of a black father and a white mother, Obama said he was drawn to the Jewish quest for "a spiritual, emotional and cultural identity, and I understood the Zionist idea that there is always a homeland at the center of our story."

He also stressed the shared history of Jews and African-Americans during the civil rights movement.

"They took buses down south together. They marched together. They bled together," he said. "Their legacy is our inheritance. We must not allow the relationship between Jews and African-Americans to suffer. ././. Together, we can rededicate ourselves to end prejudice and combat hatred in all its forms."

Bob Deans' e-mail address is bobdeans@coxnews.com