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Obama, the Democrats' presumed nominee to contest the November presidential election, insisted that he also said things in his speech "that probably some Israelis aren't happy with," such as pointing out that the Jewish state's settlement policy "not been helpful to peace as well."

"We have to have a contiguous and cohesive Palestinian state that functions effectively," he told CNN.

"There are a whole host of areas where I think there's going to have to be compromise on both sides," he added.

He meanwhile took a jab at President George W. Bush for not actively pursuing an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal until this year, the final year in Bush's presidency.

"The Middle East peace process is so important that we can't reserve it to the end of a presidency.

"We've got to start soon and I'm going to be absolutely committed to making that happen" if elected president, Obama said.

© 2008 Agence France-Presse