U.S. President-elect Barack Obama intends to offer Israel a strategic pact designed to fend off any nuclear attack by Iran, an Israeli newspaper reported on Thursday. Haaretz, quoting an unnamed U.S. source close to Obama, said the new U.S. administration would pledge under the proposed "nuclear umbrella" to respond to any Iranian nuclear strike against Israel with a U.S. retaliation in kind.
Secretary of state-designate Hillary Clinton had raised the idea of a nuclear guarantee to Israel during her campaign for the Democratic Party's nomination for the presidency. During a debate with Obama in April, Clinton noted that Israel and Arab countries must be given "deterrent backing." She added, "Iran must know that an attack on Israel will draw a massive response."
