President Barack Obama and Israeli President Shimon Peres greeted children after a welcome ceremony for President Obama in Jerusalem, Israel.
At the end of March, President Barack Obama visited three important places in the Middle East—Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan. The four-day visit was President Obama’s first trip as President of the United States to these places. The purpose of the trip was to make progress toward solving tough problems in the Middle East.
The first three days of the President’s visit were spent in Israel. He made it clear that the United States will help Israel stay safe from attacks by its neighbors. He also urged the young people of Israel to push their leaders to work for peace with their Palestinian neighbors.
Palestinians live in two main areas—the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Different leaders rule these areas. President Obama traveled to the West Bank to meet with President Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the West Bank Palestinians. President Obama hopes that talks about land and peace will start up again between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Israel and other countries fear that Iran, a neighbor to the east, could be developing a nuclear bomb. President Obama said that he will work with other nations to force Iran to stop its nuclear program or prove that it is not making a bomb.
The civil war in Syria is a problem for all the countries that border Syria, including Israel, Turkey, and Jordan. While in Israel, President Obama met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the danger of Syria’s chemical weapons. The President also helped settle a disagreement between Israel and Turkey. These two countries can now work together on the problem of the Syrian civil war.
On his last day in the Middle East, President Obama spoke with King Abdullah II of Jordan. He promised to send money to help provide food and shelter for the more than 450,000 Syrian refugees living there. Many people hope that President Obama’s trip to the Middle East will give new energy toward finding solutions to the problems facing the region.
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