Obama Plans First Trip to Israel to Talk Peace

Way to be the bigger man, B!

Barack Obama plans to visit Israel for the first time as President on March 20, making it a stop on the first overseas trip of his second term. Now that both he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have won their re-elections, the meeting will give the men an opportunity to repair a notoriously strained relationship and could revive a stalled peace initiative. Though POTUS Obama isn't expected to unveil concrete proposals for bringing Israelis and Palestinians together, advisers hope his trip will at least show that he is not walking away from the issue. “The start of the president’s second term and the formation of a new Israeli government offer the opportunity to reaffirm the deep and enduring bonds between the United States and Israel,” Jay Carney, the White House spokesman, said Tuesday, “and to discuss the way forward on a broad range of issues of mutual concern, including, of course, Iran and Syria.” (NY Times)

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