Quick Takes: News From Israel You May Have Missed

In a meeting here last week, Sen. Barack Obama assured the Palestinians he supports a “negotiated settlement” that may grant the Palestinian Authority control over sections of Jerusalem, a senior PA official who took part in the meeting told WorldNetDaily.

“He assured us there was a misunderstanding when he said [in June] that he supports the Israelis’ rights to hold on to Jerusalem. He told us he corrected this right away and that he supports a negotiated settlement that will give the Palestinians territory,” said the PA official.

The official, who was present when Obama met with PA President Mahmoud Abbas, was referring to a speech Obama delivered in June to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in which he stated if he is elected president, “Jerusalem would remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided.” The next day he retracted his remarks, explaining he meant Jerusalem should not be divided by a physical barrier.

According to the senior PA official, Obama expressed to Abbas his “full understanding” regarding halting Israel’s “settlement activities” – a reference to Israeli construction in the West Bank.

Obama told Abbas he would work to ensure more “freedom of movement” for Palestinians in the West Bank, the senior official said. Freedom of movement usually refers to Israel removing anti-terror roadblocks and checkpoints that have been directly credited with stopping suicide bombers from entering central Israel. Palestinians complain the barriers impede their mobility.

The Palestinian official also said Obama criticized “Israeli measures that create facts on the ground that may affect a future Palestinian state.” The statement was a clear reference to Israeli construction in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods the Palestinians claim for a future state.

Obama’s campaign last week plastered the entrance to the Western Wall with official campaign posters. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld confirmed that posters that adorned police barricades erected at the Western Wall plaza for Obama’s visit were distributed by the presidential candidate’s campaign.

“These posters were his campaign and not the doing of the police,” said Rosenfeld, whose police department coordinated security and provided protection for Obama’s visit to the holy site.

Asked if it was traditional practice for politicians visiting the Western Wall to bring along campaign materials, Rosenfeld said it was not.

Obama campaign posters can be seen in media footage of the Illinois senator’s early morning surprise visit to the Western Wall. The posters display Obama’s name in Hebrew. One poster erected on the main police barricade used by Obama to enter the holy site boasts the official red, white and blue campaign “O” symbol and advertises the candidate’s campaign’s website. A second poster also displays Obama’s name in Hebrew and contains an image of Israeli and American flags.

A leading member of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah organization oversaw a delegation this week to visit recently freed Palestinian terrorist child-killer Samir Kuntar, calling the convicted murderer “beautiful” and a “pure and clean” hero.

Palestine Liberation Organization ambassador to Lebanon Abbas Zaki, a senior member of the Fatah Central Committee, yesterday led the delegation – which included other PLO and Fatah members – to visit Kuntar in Lebanon’s Druze Mountain village of Abayeh.

Zaki’s office e-mailed to WorldNetDaily his in-person statements to Kuntar: “These are great hours that we are celebrating a big victory represented by your being released. You are a leader of Arab and Palestinian prisoners. I am proud that this delegation has you in our minds and hearts. Your beautiful image; your pure and clean person who dedicated life since very young to Palestine and to Palestinian causes.”

Yuval Diskin, head of Israel’s Shin Bet Security Services, told the Knesset this past weekend that Hamas has used its truce with Israel to re-arm, regroup and prepare for attacks against the Jewish state,

Diskin said Hamas used the period of the cease-fire so far to smuggle into Gaza four tons of explosives, 50 anti-aircraft missiles, dozens of Kalashnikov rifles and explosives used to produce rockets.

He said that in addition to smuggling in weapons, Hamas also transported into Gaza large quantities of cement intended to construct underground bunkers to protect themselves from Israeli attacks.

Flashback: Immediately after Prime Minister Olmert agreed to the cease-fire with Hamas on June 19, this column quoted several Gaza-based senior terror leaders who announced they would use the truce to re-arm, regroup and prepare to attack Israel.

Aaron Klein is Jerusalem bureau chief for WorldNetDaily.com. He appears throughout the week on leading U.S. radio programs and is the author of the book “Schmoozing with Terrorists.”