By DAVID ESPO 07.23.08, 3:41 PM ET From the solemnity of a Holocaust museum to a dusty village battered by Hamas rockets, Democratic presidential contender

Sen. Barack Obama's whirlwind tour of the Middle East and Europe, as everyone knows, has its primary intended audience in the United States. The trip amounts to a high-mileage campaign swing aimed at impressing voters at home. In Israel, however, a local audience without the right to vote in America is paying close attention. And the conclusion that Israelis and their leaders reach about this would-be U.S. commander-in-chief could shape their decision about what to do in the coming months regarding Iran. To put it bluntly, Obama's behavior in Israel and during the rest of his trip could determine whether or not Israel decides to attack Iran before the next American president

The Middle East this week had its first close look at US senator and Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Thanks to a genuinely intrigued and ecstatic media, it was difficult to miss his high-profile visit to Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Israel and the West Bank. In his first tour of our complex, conflict-ridden region, Obama sought to achieve two goals: introduce himself to the leaders he may be dealing with in six month time and, more importantly in this campaign season, demonstrate his foreign policy credentials to his domestic audience.
We will let the American public decide whether the photo-ops and policy statements have established his national security

Barack Obama wants Israel to know he’s got her back. The Guardian reports that the Democratic candidate pledged his “unshakeable commitment” to the security

Monday evening at a meeting of the Pacific Council, retired General John Abizaid, the former commander of the US Central Command for Iraq and Afghanistan from 2003-2007, offered lots of wisdom and an impressive analysis of the Middle East. In this election season, every American, including Barack Obama and John McCain,should hear what he has to say.
ON IRAN: Although he didn't say it outright, General Abizaid's implicit view seemed to be that the world would not be able to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and that we would have to learn to live with it. He questioned whether war with Iran to stop that eventuality would be a wise idea "at this particular time" not

By Dan Williams TEL AVIV, July 23 (Reuters) - Iran is set to receive an advanced Russian-made anti-aircraft system by the end of the year that could help fend off strikes against its nuclear facilities, senior Israeli defence sources said on Wednesday.
First delivery of the S-300 missile batteries was expected as soon as early September, one source said, though it could take six to 12 months for them to be deployed and operable.
sia required that the S-300s be delivered by the end of 2008. A second source said first units would arrive in early September.

By Julianna Goldman and Jonathan Ferziger July 23 (Bloomberg) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said that as president he would protect Israel's security and would ``take no options off the table'' to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
``A nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat,'' Obama told reporters today in Sderot, Israel. ``The world must prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.''
pt concessions in peace talks with the Palestinians that put the nation's security at risk.

By Tobias Buck in Jerusalem Barack Obama used his visit to Israel on Wednesday to send a clear signal that he shared the country’s deep concerns over Iran’s

By Anna Shoup on July 23, 2008 As his Mideast tour continues, Sen. Barack Obama reiterated his support for Israel as an ally of the United States Wednesday

By SHELDON SCHORER "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." - Albert Einstein One of the more intractable

By Mike Dorning | Tribune correspondent SDEROT, Israel - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama came Wednesday to an Israeli town that has been rocketed repeatedly by Palestinian militants to assure Israelis—and, crucially, Jewish voters in the United States—of his commitment to protect Israel's security.
"I'm here to say as an American and as a friend of Israel that we stand with the people of Sderot," Obama said. "America must always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself."
oud Abbas and Prime Minister Sala Fayyad for an hour. He waved but made no comments as he walked to his motorcade afterward.

(NECN/ABC) - Senator Barack Obama continues his trip abroad today, now in Israel. He's working both sides of what could be the most explosive foreign policy

Tomorrow, Barack Obama will step off his plane into Israel and under a microscope. While he is there, American voters - Jews, Evangelical Christians and others - who factor a presidential candidate's policies toward Israel into their electoral choice, will watch Obama's every step and listen to his every word very, very closely.
the Palestinian cause and taking advice from persons openly hostile to Israel's interests. It is because Obama is seeking to succeed a pair of American presidents who each remain extremely popular in Israel and among her supporters for one basic reason - Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, each in their own way, conveyed a gut level kinship with the

JERUSALEM, July 21 (Reuters) - US Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Monday that the United States could never allow Iran to inflict a

Terror Threat: Glen Carle, a former member of the CIA, writes that the United States has not realistically assessed the nature of the terrorist threat.