Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., July 25, 2008 Tamuz 22, 5768 | | Israel Time: 21:19 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Rosner's Domain
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File
Comments:  129
Last update - 23:07 23/07/2008
Obama, in Sderot: World must prevent Iran from obtaining nukes
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and News Agencies
Tags: Barack Obama, U.S. 

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama visited the rocket-battered southern town of Sderot on Wednesday, where he said that the entire world must act to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions.

"A nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat and the world must prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," Obama stated.

The Illinois senator also warned that a situation in which Iran had achieved this capability would be "game-changing."
Advertisement

"Not just in the Middle East, but around the world," he added. "Whatever remains of our Non-Proliferation Treaty would begin to disintegrate."

Obama vowed that as president he would not force Israel into making concessions that would put the country in danger for the sake of the peace process.

"I don't think that Ms. Livni or Mr. Barak or Bibi [Opposition leader Benjamin] Netanyahu or the others, President Peres, when they spoke to me today got any sense that I would be pressuring them to accept any kinds of concession that would put their security at stake," he said in answer to a question from a journalist.

Later in the day he meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for dinner, at which point he told reporters that he had found among the Palestinians "a strong sense that progress is being made and honest conversations are taking place" in the peace talks.

"Indeed, that's right," answered Olmert, who has pursued several diplomatic initiatives even as a corruption probe threatens to force him from office.

At the Sderot press conference, Obama said that Israel had every right to defend itself against attacks on its civilians, referring to the Qassam rockets that plagued the southern town and neighboring communities until a recent cease-fire with Gaza's Hamas rulers.

"If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I would do everything in power to stop that, and would expect Israelis to do the same thing," he said.

In Gaza, Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum called Obama's remarks part of the American policy of bias toward Israel and giving legitimacy to Israeli crimes against our people.

The presidential hopeful was accompanied on his Sderot stop by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.



Barack Obama at Yad Vashem (AP)


Earlier Wednesday, Obama pledged that as president he would preserve the close relationship between Washington and Jerusalem, and vowed that Israel's security would be a top priority in his administration.

"I'm here on this trip to reaffirm the special relationship between Israel and the United States and my abiding commitment to Israel's security and my hope that I can serve as an effective partner, whether as a U.S. senator or as president," Obama said during a meeting with President Shimon Peres.

Obama, after vowing to immediately work for a breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations if elected U.S. president, plunged into the intricacies of the region's conflict Wednesday with a packed schedule of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

He visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem and held meetings with Peres, Barak and Netanyahu.

Netanyahu, the Likud chairman and former prime minister, said following their talks Obama promised never to seek to damage Israel's security. Both men agreed on the "primacy" of preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power, Netanyahu said.

During his visit to Yad Vashem, Obama laid a wreath, lit a memorial flame, and deemed the place to ultimately be a place of hope.

"At a time of great peril and torment, war and strife, we are blessed to have such a powerful reminder of man's potential for great evil, but also our capacity to rise up from tragedy and remake our world," he wrote in the visitors' book.

American tourists who passed him by at the memorial told him, "Remember what you see here," and he replied, "Yes, I understand, I understand," said Yad Vashem's director, Avner Shalev.

Security guards at the memorial kept back the few American and European visitors who had hoped to get a closer glimpse of the presidential contender.

But the somberness of the occasion at Yad Vashem also gave way to moments of warmth and lightheartedness.

Peres gave him an effusive welcome, saying he had read Obama's two books and was moved by them. The Israeli president handed Obama an English translation of a book he himself wrote, The Imaginary Voyage: With Theodor Herzl in Israel.

Obama praised Israel's accomplishments 60 years after its creation, and complimented the 84-year-old Israeli president on his youthful appearance.

"I also want to get his recipe for looking as good he does," Obama said.

Obama meets Abbas, Fayyad in Ramallah

In the afternoon Obama made the short drive from Jerusalem to the West Bank town of Ramallah for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

Obama's trip to the West Bank on Wednesday appeared to generate some goodwill among Palestinians, though deep skepticism about U.S. policy remains.

Obama met with Abbas for an hour Wednesday under heavy security at Abbas' West Bank government headquarters.

Obama deepened Palestinian fears of an irrevocable U.S. bias towards Israel in a speech to American Jewish leaders in June when he said Jerusalem must remain Israel's undivided capital - even though no U.S. government has recognized Israel's 1967 annexation of east Jerusalem, the sector claimed by the Palestinians as their future capital.

Obama later clarified that he believes the future of Jerusalem is to be determined in negotiations - Washington's longstanding policy. The fate of the city is currently on the table in U.S.-backed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Palestinian officials said they didn't bring up the Jerusalem remarks in their meeting with Obama on Wednesday.

However, Kadoura Fares, a legislator in Abbas' Fatah movement, said Obama's slip-up on such a key issue caused serious damage. "His correction was not enough," Fares added. "He should have said he recognizes the Palestinian right to freedom."

The Islamic militant Hamas group, which rules the Gaza Strip, said Obama was not welcome and criticized Abbas, a bitter rival, for receiving him. "Obama wants to go to the White House through Tel Aviv, at the expense of the Palestinians," said Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman.

Abbas aides insist the Palestinian leader's meeting with Obama offered an important opportunity.

Abbas listed Palestinian grievances, including Israel's "continued settlement construction and refusal to ease restrictions on the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank," said Abbas aide Saeb Erekat.



Related articles:
  • 'No excuses,' says visiting Obama about bulldozer terrorist
  • ANALYSIS / Obama visiting Israel to impress Jewish voters, not Israelis
  • Internet clip has Israeli bigwigs supporting Obama campaign
  • Ahead of visit, Sderot residents say Obama has the power to change the world
  • Ramallah baker makes Barack bagel in honor of visit
    • Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    The bigger apple
    Study shows Tel Aviv is more expensive to live in than New York.
    When bedbugs bite
    After 40 years' absence, Israel braces for return of the bedbug.
      1.   Indrajaya Print This Out! I`ll Fill In #1 For You! 09:27  |  Yosemite 23/07/08
      2.   Wow, Abbas gets an hour an 15 min from the whole 11:09  |  Ben 23/07/08
      3.   Corrupt Handlers Striving for Power 11:10  |  Rigg Election 23/07/08
      4.   Obama: Peace is the best way to protect Israels security 11:58  |  Natallie Durson 23/07/08
      5.   Lies 12:21  |  Artist 23/07/08
      6.   He`s Made It Clear 12:31  |  Eric C 23/07/08
      7.   # 4 13:03  |  Jeff 23/07/08
      8.   Committment not the issue 13:38  |  Shimon Cleopas 23/07/08
      9.   israelis, will you permit obama to be elected? 13:48  |  question 23/07/08
      10.   Non-negotiable qualities of the leader 14:02  |  Shimon Cleopas 23/07/08
      11.   Najjad to palestinians: Superpower Iran is committed to your secu 14:06  |  Aounist 23/07/08
      12.   He came in his own plane! 14:28  |  Shimon 23/07/08
      13.   Obama is Not Trustworthy 14:29  |  Eli 23/07/08
      14.   DONT BELIEVE IT 14:46  |  Andreas 23/07/08
      15.   And the Palestinians? 15:14  |  Kat 23/07/08
      16.   To Ben #2-Some things Obama is a realist about 15:18  |  Arie 23/07/08
      17.   To Natalie and her version of "peace" 15:19  |  Arie 23/07/08
      18.   The REAL Barak Obama 15:23  |  Arie 23/07/08
      19.   AMERICANS WANT OUR PRESIDENT TO LOOK OUT FOR AMERICA FIRST ! ! ! 15:39  |  Gary 23/07/08
      20.   Ant American presidents- including Mr. Carter and 15:45  |  17 23/07/08
      21.   Mr. Obama should accept that Israel is a Jewish state. 15:51  |  Jean Van Daem 23/07/08
      22.   The One has arrived... can you feel the change? 15:57  |  Buick from Boca 23/07/08
      23.   Open your eyes - Obama is Chaemleon 16:03  |  * BEN JABO 23/07/08
      24.   To Gary in Ft Worth-You are mistaken 16:03  |  Arie 23/07/08
      25.   Enormous challenges 16:11  |  Alicia Gorodevzky 23/07/08
      26.   Just seeing Obama at the memorial and hugging 16:30  |  Nechama 23/07/08
      27.   Foxy man! 16:44  |  Persian Hero 23/07/08
      28.   to Natalie Durson 16:50  |  alex 23/07/08
      29.   What about the Palestinian`s security? I guess the don`t need it? 16:58  |  American 23/07/08
      30.   the writing is on the wall 17:10  |  neddie 23/07/08
      31.   #15 Kat you should ask why Palestinkians didn`t extend invitation 17:17  |  Big Sur 23/07/08
      32.   American #29 Palestinian Security Comes After They Renounce Jihad 17:56  |  Jeff Northridge 23/07/08
      33.   Obama`s Game Plan 17:56  |  Strategist 23/07/08
      34.   # 33 Strategist Oppresion by Israel? 18:08  |  Big Sur 23/07/08
      35.   The plight of African Americans should encourage him 18:08  |  CHANGE IS COMING! 23/07/08
      36.   Don`t Need `em. 18:12  |  Cool B 23/07/08
      37.   Jean Van Deam 18:17  |  Nephtaly 23/07/08
      38.   Obama 18:25  |  james phillips 23/07/08
      39.   American 18:26  |  Nephtaly 23/07/08
      40.   #34 CHANGE IS COMING not long ago signs said no jews or niggers 18:26  |  Big Sur 23/07/08
      41.   #4 Natalie Durson 18:29  |  H 23/07/08
      42.   To "change is coming"-If it wasn`t for the Jews 18:33  |  Arie 23/07/08
      43.   Barak Obama - his lips move 18:34  |  Arie 23/07/08
      44.   #23 Golly Ben Jabo 18:46  |  ballistic 23/07/08
      45.   Most of you have borderline personality disorder 19:10  |  Aphemia 23/07/08
      46.   Obama is a socialist who will give away America’s key advantages 19:14  |  Darth Zaider (Ed) 23/07/08
      47.   arie #42 and change-is-coming #35 19:19  |  george 23/07/08
      48.   #35 - Change 19:20  |  MichaelF 23/07/08
      49.   Obama getting a bit of backbone from his trip to Iraq?? 19:24  |  Voice of Reason 23/07/08
      50.   # 45 Aphemia - Exactly 19:27  |  17 23/07/08
      51.   Soften the suckers up with a visit to Yad Vashem 19:27  |  Clickfool 23/07/08
      52.   Strategist # 33 Obama`s Game Plan Is Evolving 19:35  |  Jeff Northridge 23/07/08
      53.   #24 Arie I agree with you that McGovern and Carter were bad for f 19:44  |  Gary 23/07/08
      54.   Information for Jean van Daem # 21 19:49  |  Clickfool 23/07/08
      55.   The Candidate 19:54  |  Clickfool 23/07/08
      56.   Nechama, you don`t get it 19:57  |  Mark B. 23/07/08
      57.   #49 Voice of Reason re surge 20:10  |  ballistic 23/07/08
      58.   #38 James Phillip 20:13  |  ballistic 23/07/08
      59.   Clickfool #51, you miss the Yad Vashem message entirely... 20:16  |  Dr. L. Brnd 23/07/08
      60.   #6 Eric C 20:18  |  ballistic 23/07/08
      61.   #13 Eli, Zionists like you are not trustworthy! 20:21  |  ballistic 23/07/08
      62.   Obama supports Anti Semites 20:26  |  Dennis D 23/07/08
      63.   The I love Sderot t-shirt 20:28  |  Mladen Andrijasevic 23/07/08
      64.   #29, uneducated American... 20:28  |  DR 23/07/08
      65.   Why would a Jew Vote Obama? 20:28  |  Dennis D 23/07/08
      66.   obama will not have to worry. iran will be gone. 20:32  |  frenz 23/07/08