Barack Obama used an appearance in Belfast to say that Israel has 'ceded moral ground' over the course of the Middle East conflict. The former US president made the remark during a visit to the Northern Ireland capital. While there, Queen's University Belfast conferred an honorary doctorate on him. The honor came alongside a public event where he was asked about the war and the wider state of the region. Obama argued that the way the conflict has been waged has cost Israel moral standing. His assessment carries weight given his eight years in the White House, where he navigated his own fraught relationship with Israeli governments. The comments landed in a city that knows plenty about long-running conflict and the hard work of ending one.