PM Olmert, congratulates Obama on election win

        In late night phone call Thursday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert congratulated Barack Obama for his victory two days earlier in which he became the 44th President of the United States. Although Obama does not replace outgoing President George Bush until January, the two leaders spoke already of the importance of the ongoing negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, according to the Prime Minister's Office. They agreed that any final status agreement must take into account Israel's security needs, added the PMO. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Israel on Thursday to begin wrapping up the work she has done toward that agreement in advance of Bush's departure. Olmert and Obama also spoke of the deep friendship between Israel and the United States and the need to preserve and strengthen relations, said the PMO. Speaking on Thursday at a press conference with Rice, Livni also had warm words to say about Obama's victory. Obama, she said, is a "man who has impressed Israelis during his visits here and throughout the campaign by what he represents." She added that Israel looks forward to "working with the new US administration when it comes into office in order to enhance the unique and unshakable US Israel partnership." Rice, whose Republican party lost the election, spoke of the historic nature of Tuesday's American elections, in which an African-American was elected to the presidency for the first time. Democracy, she said, was a process in which human dignity could overcome the old wounds left by racism. As the second African-American to hold the office of Secretary of State, she recalled how when she was a child in Birmingham, Alabama, there were still laws that kept the races separate. "I do think that America has been on a long journey to overcome what I have personally called its birth defect of slavery, a birth defect that was not fully overcome," said Rice.(22,02)