Obama In Israel

The trip has been flawless so far. Accounts are from Haaretz:

Press conference in Sderot:

At the Sderot press conference, Obama said that Israel had every right to defend itself against attacks on its civilians, referring to the Qassam rockets that plagued the southern town and neighboring communities until a recent cease-fire with Gaza's Hamas rulers.

"If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I would do everything in power to stop that, and would expect Israelis to do the same thing," he said.

With Prime Minister Ehud Olmert:

Obama vowed that as president he would not force Israel into making concessions that would put the country in danger for the sake of the peace process.

"I don't think that Ms. Livni or Mr. Barak or Bibi [Opposition leader Benjamin] Netanyahu or the others, President Peres, when they spoke to me today got any sense that I would be pressuring them to accept any kinds of concession that would put their security at stake," he said in answer to a question from a journalist.

Later in the day he meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for dinner, at which point he told reporters that he had found among the Palestinians "a strong sense that progress is being made and honest conversations are taking place" in the peace talks.

"Indeed, that's right," answered Olmert, who has pursued several diplomatic initiatives even as a corruption probe threatens to force him from office.

Visiting with Bibi Netanyahu:

Netanyahu, the Likud chairman and former prime minister, said following their talks Obama promised never to seek to damage Israel's security. Both men agreed on the "primacy" of preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power, Netanyahu said.

At Vad Yashem:

During his visit to Yad Vashem, Obama laid a wreath, lit a memorial flame, and deemed the place to ultimately be a place of hope.

"At a time of great peril and torment, war and strife, we are blessed to have such a powerful reminder of man's potential for great evil, but also our capacity to rise up from tragedy and remake our world," he wrote in the visitors' book.

American tourists who passed him by at the memorial told him, "Remember what you see here," and he replied, "Yes, I understand, I understand," said Yad Vashem's director, Avner Shalev.

Visiting Shimon Peres:

"I'm here on this trip to reaffirm the special relationship between Israel and the United States and my abiding commitment to Israel's security and my hope that I can serve as an effective partner, whether as a U.S. senator or as president," Obama said during a meeting with President Shimon Peres....

Peres gave him an effusive welcome, saying he had read Obama's two books and was moved by them. The Israeli president handed Obama an English translation of a book he himself wrote, The Imaginary Voyage: With Theodor Herzl in Israel.

Obama praised Israel's accomplishments 60 years after its creation, and complimented the 84-year-old Israeli president on his youthful appearance.

"I also want to get his recipe for looking as good he does," Obama said.

Shaking hands in Sderot:



It seems the only folks who weren't happy about Obama's visit were, you guessed it, Hamas:

In Gaza, Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum called Obama's remarks part of the American policy of bias toward Israel and giving legitimacy to Israeli crimes against our people....

The Islamic militant Hamas group, which rules the Gaza Strip, said Obama was not welcome and criticized Abbas, a bitter rival, for receiving him. "Obama wants to go to the White House through Tel Aviv, at the expense of the Palestinians," said Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman.

Obama will also be visiting the Western Wall tonight.