The Obama administration stripped Jerusalem from being located in Israel in its official communication of the president's remarks in the ancient city at a memorial service for recently deceased former Israeli president Shimon Peres.

The White House, in a press release, originally sent out a press release attributing Obama's remarks as taking place in "Jerusalem, Israel."

Shortly after that statement was sent, the White House reissued the statement with "Israel" crossed out as the location.

The move follows a longstanding Obama administration policy of refusing to say that Jerusalem belongs to Israel. Doing so would prejudge the outcome of peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, the White House says.

The White House has been caught in the past editing the captions on old official photographs to remove mention of Jerusalem as being in "Israel."

One senior congressional aide who works on Middle East issues told the Free Beacon that the White House's actions are offensive and out of line, particularly in light of Peres' recent death.

"For the White House proactively reject Jerusalem as the capital of Israel after President Obama's remarks memorializing one of the state's founders is beyond insulting," the source said. "This administration never misses an opportunity to manufacturer conflicts at Israel's expense, but doing so just hours after burying Shimon Peres goes beyond the pale. It even raises questions as to whether the White House deliberately sent out this correction to make a political statement. I seriously hope that's not that case."