Israeli authorities confirmed the itinerary for Barack Obama’s visit to the Jewish State next week.
While the US President will take in meetings with his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres and Premier Benjamin Netanyahu as well as a series of high-profile sites of interest, in line with previously unsubstantiated reports he will not be making an address to the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.
Obama will accompanied for the tour beginning March 20 by new US Secretary of State John Kerry, who characterised his recently completed tour of Europe and the Middle East as a “listening tour”.
The first day of the high-profile visit will see Obama, on his first visit to key ally Israel since assuming office in 2008, meet first with Peres for an official welcome and meeting, before moving on to a dinner meeting and press conference with Netanyahu, with whom he has reportedly enjoyed significantly frostier relations than with staunch supporter Peres.
The second day will see him tour the Shrine of the Book (home to the Dead Sea Scrolls) at the Israel Museum, where he will also view a specially-curated exhibition of innovative technology, before moving on to a brief visit with the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, before returning to Jerusalem for a state dinner hosted by Peres.
The final day of his three-day tour will see him pay his respects to former Israeli leaders Theodor Herzl and the assassinated Yitzchak Rabin, as well as visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum.
Following a joint preparatory meeting for the visit between representatives from Netanyahu and Peres’ offices, as well as the Israeli foreign ministry, defence ministry, the Israel Police, the Jerusalem Municipality, and Ben-Gurion international Airport, National Security Advisor Yaakov Amidror conceded that whilst high-level talks with Israeli leaders on the predominant issues of the Iranian nuclear threat and Middle East peace process, amongst others, were an inevitable priority, it was also “important to us that the President and all those who watch the visit see the beautiful Land of Israel as much as possible given the short schedule”.
Gil Sheffer, head of the Prime Minister’s Bureau, added that the technology exhibit at the Israel Museum had been specially designed to “present Israel as a technological leader”, across the key areas of renewable energy, search and rescue technology and robotics”.
The visit, coming so soon after Obama’s second term inauguration and as Israel itself seeks this week to finalise negotiations for the composition of its next coalition government, is seen by Israel as a big public relations coup, with Head of the National Information Directorate Liran Dan emphasising that not only did Israel hope to reiterate "the deep and abiding connection between Israel and the US", but also "to utilise the international attention that will be on the State of Israel for the 48 hours of President Obama's visit in order to stress Israel's status as a technological leader."