JERUSALEM — Despite months of warnings by John McCain that Barack Obama's stance toward Iran threatens Israel, political leaders in the Jewish state welcomed the Democrat's assurances Wednesday that he would work to block Iran from acquiring nuclear arms.
Obama navigated a thicket of regional tensions on a daylong visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. But Israeli leaders across the political spectrum voiced no misgivings about his commitment to Israel's security -- above all in countering the Iranian threat.
On a day of talks with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Obama declared solidarity against "an Iranian regime that sponsors terrorism, pursues nuclear weapons and threatens Israel's existence."
"A nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat, and the world must prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," Obama told reporters in Sderot, a rocket-battered town in southern Israel near the Gaza Strip.
Obama also traveled to the West Bank, where he spent an hour with the president and prime minister of the Palestinian Authority. They too gave a warm reception to the Democratic Party's presidential nominee-in-waiting.
"He left us feeling very well, reassuring us about his commitment for peace," said Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian negotiator who escorted Obama into a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
But most remarkable on Obama's visit was the absence of reservations expressed by the Israelis about his openness to dialogue with Iran.
Many Israeli leaders have said in the past that such talks would help legitimize Iran and give it more time to develop nuclear weapons. But rather than emphasize those differences, even in private, several who met with Obama sounded eager to find points of agreement.
Even former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, usually a vocal critic of talks with Iran, refrained from challenging Obama's view. After the two met, the right-wing opposition Likud Party leader said they had agreed "the most pressing issue concerning the foreign policies of both countries must be to prevent Iran from arming itself with nuclear weapons."
A Netanyahu advisor said it was more fruitful to find common ground with a man who might become president. He said Netanyahu, who aspires to lead Israel again, was satisfied with Obama's argument.
