Obama, Arriving in Israel, Seeks to Offer Reassurance
Source: NY Times
TEL AVIV – President Obama landed here on Wednesday to begin a highly symbolic two-day visit to Israel, the first of his presidency, hoping to reassure a wary Israeli public of the support of its American ally as Israel faces threats from Iran and uncertainty in its roiling neighborhood.
Stepping into a sparkling noonday sun at Ben-Gurion International Airport here, Mr. Obama embraced President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who waited for him at the bottom of the stairway, under the looming shadow of Air Force One.
After a formal arrival ceremony on the tarmac, Mr. Obama was to be driven almost immediately to a nearby hangar to inspect a battery of the Iron Dome air-defense system. The system, built by Israeli companies firms but largely financed by the United States, is credited with intercepting more than 400 rockets fired from Gaza at Israeli towns.
The president’s inspection of the mobile air-defense battery was to be the first of a series of carefully choreographed stops meant to convey a single message: The president of the United States cares about the Israeli people and will do whatever is necessary to protect them from threats, near and far.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/world/middleeast/obama-arrives-in-israel-for-two-day-trip.html