Obama backs Olympics moment of silence for Israelis killed at Munich Games

— -- President Barack Obama "absolutely" supports a global campaign for a minute-long moment of silence at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London in tribute to the 11 Israeli athletes and coaches killed at the 1972 games in Munich, the White House said Thursday.

"We absolutely support the campaign for a minute of silence at the Olympics to honor the Israeli athletes killed in Munich," National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor told Yahoo News by email.

The International Olympic Committee has rejected the proposal, and said that the victims—killed by extremists of the Palestinian "Black September" group--would be honored at a separate ceremony. But supporters of the homage have not given up.

A spokeswoman for Mitt Romney, Andrea Saul, said the Republican standard-bearer had taken no public stance on the issue.