Following the first meeting of his Mideast tour, President Obama delivers a statement with Israel's President Shimon Peres.
By Alastair Jamieson and Ian Johnston, NBC News
Israel has "no greater friend than the United States," President Barack Obama said Wednesday on his first state trip to the country.
During his visit, Obama is expected to discuss Iran's disputed nuclear program and the crisis in Syria, and will also meet Palestinian officials in the West Bank on Thursday, but little progress on the peace process is expected.
Standing alongside Israel?s President Shimon Peres following a?private bilateral meeting, Obama said the two countries' joint efforts were important in securing peace for future generations.?
Peres warmly praised Obama as ?very knowledgeable,? adding there could be ?no better? leader to take the peace process forward. He also thanked Obama for the ?lots of sleepless nights? the president had endured in support of Israel.
Obama then entered a formal meeting with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom he has not always seen eye to eye.
Earlier Wednesday, Obama was met at Tel Aviv's airport by Netanyahu and Peres, along with a military band and a host of other officials and dignitaries.
Oliwer Weiken / EPA
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (second right) and President Shimon Peres (left) welcome President Barack Obama to Israel Wednesday. All three emphasized the enduring friendship between the U.S. and Israel.
All three men gave speeches that emphasized the friendship between the U.S. and Israel ? Netanyahu spoke of the ?unbreakable alliance,? Obama the ?unbreakable bond.?
'Eternal' alliance
Obama, who began his speech with ?shalom,? said he was ?confident in declaring that our alliance is eternal.?
?The United States is proud to stand with you as your strongest ally and your greatest friend,? he said.
He said it was not an accident that he had made the first overseas trip of his second term in office to Israel.
?Across this region, the winds of change bring both promise and peril,? Obama said, likely a reference to the Arab Spring uprisings that saw an Islamist president voted into power in Egypt and a civil war erupt in Syria.
In his speech, Netanyahu thanked Obama for ?standing by Israel at this time of historic change in the Middle East.?
?We deeply appreciate your friendship and we share your hope that the Middle East will enjoy a future of freedom, prosperity and peace,? he added.
Picking up on comments Obama made before the trip ?- expressing the desire to put on a disguise and go to a Tel Aviv bar -- Netanyahu joked that he had lined up a few locations and ?even picked out a fake mustache for you.?
Obama also viewed an ?Iron Dome? air defense missile launcher, a?U.S.-funded system, that was brought to the airport for him to see. The system has helped protect Israelis from Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza.
Ammar Awad / Reuters
Palestinian demonstrators hold placards, some depicting President Barack Obama dressed as an Israeli soldier during a protest in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday.
Netanyahu is expected to attempt to get Obama to agree to define a ?red line? for Iran -- the point in its nuclear development at which military action would be taken to stop it from getting an atom bomb. Last week, Peres described Iran as ?the greatest threat to peace in the world.?
Israel also worries that Islamist factions among the rebels fighting Syria?s Bashar Assad could seize control of the buffer zone between the two countries from the United Nations and threaten Israel with chemical weapons and long-range rockets captured from the regime.
On Thursday, the president will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank, where he can expect a mixed reception.
"It's not a positive visit," Wasel Abu Yousef, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is led by Abbas, told Reuters.
In Ramallah on Tuesday, Palestinian police scuffled with scores of demonstrators protesting Obama's visit.
Obama is likely to offer reassurance that the U.S. still supports the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
However, little progress on the peace process is expected during the trip.
'Horrible conclusion'
In an editorial Wednesday, the Haaretz newspaper said it would ?take a good bit of imagination to expect a breakthrough over the next two days.?
President Barack Obama leaves Tuesday for his first ever trip to Israel as president and the White House is already lowering expectations for that visit. The New York Times' Elizabeth Bumiller, USA Today's Susan Page and The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus discuss.
?Here lies the central danger of the visit. The Israeli government and public could conclude, based on the polite tone of the president and the lack of a threat or demonstrative pressure, that Israel is now exempt from having to initiate steps toward resuming the peace process,? it wrote.
?This would be a horrible conclusion. Obama and the United States are not a party to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The president of the United States is not the one who must live in a society that is being transformed as a result of the occupation and pushed to the margins of the international community,? it added.
The Jerusalem Post said that there would ?admittedly? be ?little if any headway? on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
However, its editorial said the visit would be more than just a ?charm offensive,? given the war in Syria and the prospect of Iran getting a nuclear weapon. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful means only.
?As the leader of the Jewish people, who have been threatened with destruction by Iran?s leaders, Netanyahu wants assurances that the U.S. will launch a military strike if necessary to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran,? the Post wrote.
?Ideally, he would also like to define a mutually agreed upon ?red line? or the point at which it has been determined that diplomacy and sanctions are useless and military action must be taken,? it added.
Obama will be in the Middle East until Saturday. He will also lay a wreath in the Hall of Remembrance for victims of the Holocaust, and visit the Church of the Nativity with Abbas.
On Friday, he will go to Amman, Jordan, for talks and a dinner with King Abdullah. On Saturday, Obama will take a walking tour of the ancient city of Petra before flying home.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Former NSC spokesperson Tommy Vietor and Aaron David Miller, a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, discuss what's at stake with President Barack Obama's trip to Israel and debate whether he will be able to repair a fractious relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Related:
Rough ride ahead for Obama as Palestinians, Israelis lukewarm over visit
Israel to grill Obama over possible military strike on Iran
Plenty to discuss as Obama heads to Israel
Syria chaos looms large over Obama's Israel trip
This story was originally published on Wed Mar 20, 2013 4:56 AM EDT
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