US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Monday the world must pressureIran in a "serious way" over its nuclear program before Israel feels compelled to deal with situation itself.
"We've got to do that before Israel feels like its back is to the wall," he said. Obama was asked whether Israel felt it had a "green light" to take military action against Iran if there was not enough progress made soon by the United States and its allies to contain Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
"I don't want to speculate on whether or not Israel feels like it has a green light or not because that would be speculation," he said. "What is not speculation is that we have to act much more forcefully and effectively on the world stage to contain Iran's nuclear capabilities."
Obama, who is vying against Republican John McCain, spent two nights in Israel in July as part of a weeklong tour abroad and met with several Israeli officials.
The ABC TV network reported recently that while visiting Israel, Obama was under the impression that the State is planning a military attack if sanctions against Iran fail. Obama spoke during a meeting he held with the US Democratic Party at the House of Representatives.
Obama said no one spoke to him directly about a possible attack, but that’s the impression he got from his discussions in Israel, ABC reported.