Barack Obama today pledged to put America's alliance with Israel at the heart of his foreign policy, as he used his first speech as the presumptive Democratic nominee to dispel accusations of anti-Israeli bias that have dogged his candidacy.
In a speech to the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the country's most prominent pro-Israeli lobby, he challenged emails “filled with tall tales and dire warnings about a certain candidate for president.”
"Let me know if you see this guy named Barack Obama, because he sounds pretty scary,” he said.
To applause, he insisted he was a "true friend" of Israel and regarded its security as his top priority.
"Israel's security is sacrosanct, it is non-negotiable," Mr Obama said.
In a wide-ranging analysis of regional problems, the senator pledged action on the challenges to Israel from Hamas, Hizbollah, Syria and Iran, characterising the latter as "the greatest strategic threat in the Mid East to the United States and Israel in a generation."
On Monday, the Republican nominee-in-waiting John McCain expressed disgust for Mr Obama’s declared willingness to meet President Ahmadinejad of Iran without preconditions. “It’s hard to see what such a summit would gain, except an earful of anti-Semitic rants and a worldwide audience for a man who denies one Holocaust and talks about starting another,” he said.
Mr McCain went on to declare that Mr Obama’s plan for a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq would “result in a catastrophe” and a potential terrorist sanctuary in the heart of the Middle East. This, he said, “would profoundly affect the security of the United States, Israel and our other friends”.
But Mr Obama dismissed such claims, painting a McCain presidency as a continuation of the "failed policy" that had lead to a Gaza controlled by Hamas extremists, an emboldened Iran and an America hamstrung by its involvement in Iraq.
"We must be clear-eyed about the failure of today's policy," he said, proposing a phased withdrawal from Iraq and a tough diplomacy with Iran based on "meaningful incentives" and the threat of further sanctions.
Military action against Iran would "always remain on the table," he added.
"I have no interest in sitting down with our adversaries for the sake of it," Mr Obama said. Pledging that any such talks would take place only after careful preparation and close coordination with allies including Israel, he said: "I would be willing to lead tough diplomacy with Iranian leaders at a time and place of my choosing and only if it can advance American and Israeli interests."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article4067297.ece
Topic: Obama pledges to back Israel against terror threats from abroad (Read 1012 times)