A lot of people are upset at Israeli newspaper Maariv for violating Barack Obama’s privacy by publishing a prayer note he left at the Western Wall in Jerusalem: Maariv’s publication of Barack Obama’s Western Wall note spurs outrage, boycott.

But according to Maariv, the Obama campaign specifically approved the release of the contents of the note:

Maariv’s response: “Obama’s note was published in Maariv and other international publications following his authorization to make the content of the note public. Obama submitted a copy of the note to media outlets when he left his hotel in Jerusalem. Moreover, since he is not Jewish, there is no violation of privacy as there would be for a Jewish person who places a note in the wall.”

Not sure who to trust on this one, but it appears as if the Obama campaign played the Israeli media like a fiddle.

UPDATE at 7/29/08 11:00:41 am:

The Jerusalem Post reports that the Obama campaign denies approving the release of the note, but curiously won’t talk about whether it was actually written by Obama: Attorney: Probe Israeli paper for printing Obama note.

Obama’s campaign has neither confirmed nor denied whether the prayer published by Ma’ariv was in fact written by Obama. A campaign spokesman, however, made clear that the campaign hadn’t approved the publication of any kind of prayer note.

“Prayer notes at the Wall should remain private,” a campaign aide said.