WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration said Thursday that a statement issued by the Egyptian presidency is welcome but not enough to ease concerns about anti-Jewish and anti-Israel comments that the Islamist president made before he took office.

The statement by President Mohammed Morsi's office rejects discrimination and incitement to violence based on religion. The State Department called it "an important first step" but said the U.S. continues to look for Morsi and other Egyptian leaders to demonstrate a commitment to religious tolerance and Egypt's peace treaty with Israel.

The U.S. has said Morsi's 2010 remarks — in which he urged hatred of Jews and called Zionists "pigs" and "bloodsuckers" while he was a leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood — are "deeply offensive" and need to be repudiated.