Obama vs. Obama: 2008 Candidate Claims Jerusalem Is Israel's Capital, While 2012 President's Admin Denies Its Status

President Barack Obama's administration has had a difficult time deciding whether or not Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.

Last Thursday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney refused to say which locality is, indeed, the principal city of Israel. Then, just one day after Mitt Romney stated that he believes Jerusalem is the capital, the White House decided to take a firm -- and divergent -- stance, claiming that Jerusalem isn't currently (but could one day, based on negotiations, become) the nation's capital.

Is your head spinning yet?

But let's add some other factors into the mix. In 2008, when Obama was running for president, he made it clear that he believed then that the city was a part of Israel, as we noted in a previous post. The presidential hopeful made this stance so clear that he even contended that Jerusalem must remain Israel's capital, even at the end of the negotiation process.

At the time, Obama said that any agreement with the Palestinians, "must preserve Israel’s identity as a Jewish state with secure, recognized, defensible borders. And Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided."

Watch the then-candidate discuss his previous stance, below:

The difficult-to-follow narrative doesn't end there. In August 2011, TheBlaze reported on a bizarre scenario concerning mentions to Jerusalem on the White House and federal web sites. Our previous post shows the alleged removals of the references, with before and after snapshots that certainly raise questions.

These elements are noteworthy, considering that the 2008 Democratic Party Platform read: "Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel. The parties have agreed that Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations. It should remain an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths."

We'll leave you with the awkward dialogue that Carney had with reporters last week. While he continued to say "our position hasn't changed," members of the press seemed dumbfounded as to what, exactly, that position is. Considering the president's and the administration's past flip-flops, this confusion is understandable: