A White House spokesperson said that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s comments suggesting Israelis are superior to Palestinians has caused some in the Obama administration to “scratch their heads.”

The spokesperson, Josh Earnest, called on Romney to explain the comments, according to the Jerusalem Post.

“Well, our view is that that’s a different position than this administration holds,” Earnest said in a press briefing on Tuesday, according to the Post. “It’s the view of this administration that the capital is something that should be determined in final status negotiations between the parties.”

Earnest added that previous Republican and Democratic administrations have held the same position.

Palestinian groups have also harshly criticized Romney for the remark, which was made in a policy speech given in Jerusalem on Sunday night.

It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.

This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions. 

We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.

As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday! 

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Make a gift and our board will match it.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$129 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT