President Barack Obama Visits Israel: It's About TIME!!! (592 hits)
Obama visits Israel amid low expectations -
The president hopes to reset his often fraught relations with both the Israelis and Palestinians.
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - President Barack Obama arrived in Israel on Wednesday without any new peace initiative to offer disillusioned Palestinians and facing deep Israeli doubts over his pledge to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. Making his first official visit here as president, Obama hopes to use the trip to reset his often fraught relations with both the Israelis and Palestinians in a choreographed three-day stay that is high on symbolism but low on expectations.
He was met at Tel Aviv airport by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Shimon Peres after Air Force One stopped next to a huge red carpet laid out down the tarmac. Obama will hold lengthy talks with Netanyahu later in the day, with the two set to hold a news conference at 8:10 p.m. (2.10 p.m. EDT). He will travel to the occupied West Bank on Thursday to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. U.S. officials say Obama will try to coax the Palestinians and Israelis back to peace talks. He will also seek to reassure Netanyahu he is committed to preventing Iran from getting a nuclear bomb and discuss ways of containing Syria's civil war.( ...)
NEW BEGINNINGS With both Obama and Netanyahu just starting new terms and mindful that they will have to work together on volatile issues for years to come, they will be looking to avoid the kind of public confrontation that has marked past encounters.
"To tell the truth, they can't stand one another," a commentator for Israel's Channel 10 television said in a live broadcast from the airport as Air Force One came to a halt. Signaling the emphasis being placed on symbolic gestures, the U.S. president will inspect an Iron Dome anti-missile battery at Tel Aviv airport before flying up to Jerusalem by helicopter for the start of his official meetings.
The White House has touted the U.S.-funded system, which has helped protect Israelis from Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza, as a prime example of Obama's commitment to Israel's security - a message likely to be rammed home during the trip. Annual U.S. military aid to Israel is put at $3 billion. ...
Ha! Never thought they'd be pretending to be polite. Sometimes I really can't tell when people are being illusive in politeness. I'm a bit gulliable to many such things so I tend to ignore smiling faces can be frowns, I try to keep my smiles real. You're a wonder JF!
Friday, March 22nd 2013 at 10:21AM
MIISRAEL Bride
