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Obama tightens Israeli ties
23/07/2008 12:14 - (SA)
Jerusalem - White House hopeful Barack Obama vowed on Wednesday to tighten US bonds with Israel as he began an intense day of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, a key moment in his international campaign swing.
The Democratic White House hopeful was also to tour the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and to take a helicopter tour of Israel's cramped topography, a rite of passage for potential US leaders.
Obama, who flew in from Jordan and Iraq late on Tuesday, opened his day with a meeting at his Jerusalem hotel with Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, the first engagement on a presidential-style schedule.
Meeting top officials
He was later due to see Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, and to travel to Ramallah in the West Bank to consult Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
Later on Wednesday, Obama was also due in Sderot, a southern Israeli town that has long been in the firing line of rockets and mortars from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
After touching down at Tel Aviv airport following a short flight from Jordan, Obama made a brief statement, saying it was "wonderful to be back in Israel".
"I want input and insight from Israeli leaders about how they see the current situation. I will share some of my ideas," Obama said.
"The most important thing for me to share is the historic and special relationship between the United States and Israel, one that cannot be broken.
"One that I have affirmed throughout my career and one that I will intend to not only continue but strengthen in an Obama administration."
Obama's audience for this visit is not just in the Middle East, but back home where he has struggled to win the overwhelming support among Jewish voters enjoyed by some previous Democratic candidates.
Slow progress
Earlier, a day before meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders, he warned that entrenched positions, divisions among Palestinians and turbulent Israeli politics meant progress could be slow.
"It is a very difficult process. There is a lot of history that exists between those two people. That history is not going to vanish overnight," he said.
While Obama is likely to be greeted as a hero in Europe, there remain questions in the Middle East about his potential policies.
His view that Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of Israel sparked fury among Palestinians, who saw it as pre-judging final status talks on their promised future state, while his offer to talk to Iran is likely to face scrutiny in Israel.
From Israel, Obama will head to Germany for the symbolic centrepiece of his campaign swing, a major open-air speech in Berlin on US transatlantic relations.
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