Obama to discuss Middle East issues in Israel

President Barack Obama will discuss, during his trip to Israel next week, Iran's nuclear weapon, the situation in Syria and ways to advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace, a White House official said Thursday night. In a briefing on Obama's visit to Israel, the West Bank and Jordan, deputy national security adviser for strategic communications Ben Rhodes noted that the United States "obviously cooperates very closely with Israel on security, intelligence and economic issues, and there will be a broad agenda for our governments to address while the President is in Israel." Rhodes said it was "a very important time" for Obama to also reinforce U.S. support for the Palestinian Authority. "We are very supportive of efforts, for instance, on the West Bank to develop Palestinian institutions and broaden opportunity for the Palestinian people, even as we continue to work for advancements in the peace process," he said. Obama's talks in Jordan with King Abdullah will include "addressing the very grave humanitarian crisis in Syria, including the significant refugee population within Jordan. And the U.S. is providing substantial assistance to Jordan and other international partners to help allay that refugee crisis." "We are also very supportive of the political reform efforts within Jordan, " Obama's spokesperson said, noting the recent parliamentary elections. "We would like to see continued momentum on the political reform agenda that the King has supported, so we will have an opportunity to address those issues." The President arrives in Israel on Wednesday, and will travel to Ramallah on Thursday, where he will have a bilateral meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The two will have a press conference, then a working lunch. "It is a chance to discuss our continued support for the PA, as well as to discuss ways to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace going forward," Rhodes said. Following the lunch, the President will join Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad at the Al-Bireh Youth Center in Ramallah. This is an opportunity for the President to see first-hand some of the work being done to develop institutions on the West Bank, and to meet with a range of Palestinian young people and hear directly from them, as well, Rhodes said. Later that day, Obama will deliver a speech to the Israeli people at the Jerusalem International Convention Center. Obama wanted to speak "not just to Israelis, but to Israeli young people, so we have worked to help build a crowd that will bring in a significant number of Israeli university students from the many universities that our embassy partners with within Israel," Rhodes said The President's speech "will focus on the nature of the ties between the United States and Israel, the broad agenda that we work on together on security, on peace, on economic prosperity. And I think he will have a chance to speak to the future of that relationship, so discussing not just the nature of the challenges that we face today, but where the United States and Israel are working to move together as we head into the future of the 21st century."