Obama Reassures the Safety of Israel

American Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama is speaking in the rocket-battered southern town of Sderot, Israel near the Gaza border with a collection of spent Kassam rockets in the background on Wednesday, July 23, 2008. Minister of Israeli Defense Ehud Barak, Mayor of Sderot Eli Moyal, Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Tzipi Livni accompanied Obama at the event. Sderot has been the site of frequent Palestinian militant rocket attacks from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. During a visit to the southern Israeli town of Sderot, Mr Obama warned a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a grave threat to world security. Earlier, Mr Obama held talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, telling him that he would quickly engage in the Middle East peace process were he elected president, an aide to Mr Abbas said. Photo by Rafael Ben-Ari/Chameleons Eye.