Bethlehem - Ma'an - America's bond with its Israeli ally is unbreakable, US President Barack Obama reiterated in a prerecorded speech marking the anniversary of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassination by a right-wing extremist in Tel Aviv 14 years earlier.

In remarks broadcast to a crowd of thousands in Rabin Square, named after the late leader, Obama also told the Israeli people that they would never find true security so long as Palestinians suffered "hopelessness and despair."

"America's bonds with our Israeli ally are unbreakable," Obama said. "We will never waver in defense of Israeli security and we will never lose sight of our shared purpose: A just and lasting peace between Israel, Palestine and the Arab world, one that respects the dignity and security of every human being."

Rabin was "the brave soldier who devoted his life to defending Israel but who said that the only battle which is a pleasure to wage is the battle for peace," Obama continued, speaking at the spot where he was shot dead in 1995 by a pro-settler extremist, Yigal Amir, in protest of the Oslo Accords.

"He was the statesman who saw the world as it was but also as it might yet be," Obama said, and "challenged us all – Israeli and Palestinian, the Arab world and the whole world – to reach within our hearts and ask the questions upon which lasting peace depends."

He continued, "Do we have the empathy to see conflicts from more than our own side? To recognize ourselves in others, to see that their aspirations are also our own, justice and progress, the dignity of all human beings, the simple desire to live in peace and security... To say publicly what we say privately: That Israelis will not find true security so long as Palestinians are gripped by hopelessness or despair; that Palestinian dreams of statehood will be deferred unless Israelis are assured of their own safety and security.

"Do we have the courage to break the old patterns of mistrust and suspicion and reach out to those who are willing to work for the progress that improves the daily lives of ordinary people, and do we have the resolve to be like Yitzhak, a soldier for peace; to walk the hard but necessary path, to keep going when those who know only violence and destruction try to knock us off-course, to always keep our eyes fixed on that brighter horizon. The answer must be 'yes.' Yes, we will move forward; yes, we will persevere in the face of long odds and inevitable difficulties."



"And to all who seek peace," Obama added, "I say tonight: You will always have a partner in the United States of America and in my administration. That is why we have been working aggressively for our clear goal: two states living side by side in peace and security."

"God bless you and God bless all who seek peace," Obama concluded. "Shalom."