Obama Arrives In Israel On Three-Day Tour

American President Barack Obama has arrived on Air Force One for a three-day tour of Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

Making his first overseas tour since the start of his second term in office, Obama is due to continue on to neighbouring Jordan on Friday.

The President is on a mission to ease past tensions with his hosts and to overcome scepticism about his plans to thwart Iran's nuclear threat.

Air Force One landed at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv to kick off the three-day trip during which Obama will meet Israeli leaders and make a short visit to the West Bank, before heading to Jordan to consult with King Abdullah II.

The plane rolled to a stop to the peal of trumpets from a military band and Mr Obama smiled broadly as he embraced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then President Shimon Peres, saying: "How are you, my friend?"

They then stood to attention for the US and Israeli national anthems.

Mr Peres thanked Mr Obama for his "unshakeable" support adding: "A world without your friendship would invite aggression against Israel.

"In times of peace, in times of war, your support for Israel is unshakeable," he said.

Analysts believe Mr Obama's long-awaited visit may be marked more by symbolism than serious diplomatic substance and will expose diminished US ambitions of forging peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

The President says he is carrying no new peace plans and instead plans to listen to the new Israeli government and Palestinians disaffected with his approach, leading some experts to question why he is coming at all.

Mr Obama will come face-to-face with Israel's security challenge at the airport by viewing a mobile battery of Israel's US-funded Iron Dome anti-missile system.

Then he will head to Jerusalem for talks with Mr Peres before sitting down with Mr Netanyahu, with whom he has had an at times difficult relationship.

Mr Obama and Mr Netanyahu will have to smooth over an often difficult personal chemistry following previous spats, but the visit is unlikely to narrow differences over how soon Iran will have a nuclear weapons capability.

Mr Obama told Israeli television that Iran would not be able to build a nuclear weapon for "over a year or so."

Mr Netanyahu warned last year that Iran would have the capacity to produce a bomb much earlier, within months from the current date, and questions whether sanctions will change Tehran's calculations.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas hopes Mr Obama will help broker the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and wants $700m (£470m) in blocked US aid freed up.

Mr Obama is expected to tell the Palestinians that initiatives like seeking statehood recognition at the UN are counterproductive, while warning Israel that settlement building undercuts the chances of resuming peace talks.

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