Mr Obama said he granted clemency to Manning because she had gone to trial, taken responsibility for her crime and received a sentence that was harsher than other leakers had received.
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Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat released a video that disparages Obama and welcomes President-elect Donald Trump.
The chief Palestinian representative to France says moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv would violate worldwide law and adds that he does not think Donald Trump’s new administration will make such a decision.
Obama said he had initially wanted “to do everything I could” to bring about a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians, but that after years he realized it would likely not be possible. More than once, Israel was forced to take dramatic steps.
Even many of Mr Obama’s proudest achievements, like the “ObamaCare” health care overhaul, stand to be rolled back or undermined by Mr Trump, a shadow that hangs over the president’s legacy as he leaves office.
Referring to Trump, Barkat said, “Let’s all welcome him together – as our friend”.
One week ago, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, sent a letter to Trump, saying that if the USA embassy is moved to Jerusalem, the Middle East, and even peace in the world, “will be in severe trouble”.
“The leaders of 70 nations meant to hurt Israel and instead ended up wasting their time and accomplishing nothing”, said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, President of Christians in Defense of Israel, and Founder and Chairman of Covenant Journey.
In a video posted to the Internet this week, Barkat said that Israelis must join with Trump to “make the US-Israeli relationship great again”.
United Nations envoy Nickolay Mladenov delivered the warning to the Security Council, which met for the first time since the adoption of a contentious resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements.
Negotiated in the aftermath of World War II, Israel and the United States, along with 194 other countries, are signatories. Therefore, Israel is within its right to occupy the Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem.
In recent days, Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas has increased his rhetoric against the move, warning that it would destroy the peace process and that there would be “consequences” if the embassy was moved. Most countries view all Israeli settlements on occupied land that the Palestinians seek for their own state as illegal.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat is urging all Israelis to voice their unequivocal support of US President-elect Donald Trump ahead of his inauguration on Friday.
But there has been crosstalk from his new Cabinet.
Asked by Israel Hayom reporter and former Israeli ambassador to Mauritania Tuesday evening if he remembered promising the embassy relocation during a previous interview, Trump replied “of course I remember what I told you about Jerusalem”.
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But earlier, Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, Gen. James Mattis, told the Senate that Tel Aviv was Israel’s capital in his opinion. This is further cause for alarm given the rise of populism in the USA and in Europe and the strident declarations concerning the annexation of Jerusalem and illegal settlements in Palestine.
