Obama’s airport speech resonates, as he prepares to visit Peres

Jerusalem is eerily quiet, save for the sounds of helicopters overhead. Streets are deserted. The president is about to go meet the president.

Here’s Raphael Ahren on what’s in store: At around 4, Obama will enter the plaza at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem’s posh Talbieh neighborhood, where he will be greeted by Peres and local children waving Israeli and American flags. The two presidents will walk together down the red carpet and then enter the main hall in the residence where Obama will sign the guest book.

Three young Israelis will thank Obama for his support of Israel. One of them, Nadav, who lives near the Gaza Strip, will speak about the Iron Dome missile defense system. Another, Nicole, 17, is a participant in the Ilan Ramon science program and will thank Obama for the US-Israeli cooperation in the field of science.

Obama will plant a tree in the residence garden, before the leaders withdraw to a private room for two diplomatic work meetings — first with their senior staff and then alone.

At about 5:30, Obama will make the short drive to the Prime Minister’s Residence on Balfour Street, for marathon talks with Netanyahu. About five hours are officially allotted to talks with the prime minister, part of which will probably focus on Obama’s efforts to dissuade him from unilaterally attacking Iran. Other issues on the agenda are chemical weapons in Syria and efforts to restart the peace process.

At the beginning of the meeting, Netanyahu will hand Obama what the Prime Minister’s Office called a “symbolic gift” (symbolic, presumably, because it’s full of meaning but of little practical value): a gold-coated 0.04 sq.mm. nano-chip bearing the Israeli and US declarations of independence, etched side-by-side to a depth of 0.00002 mm.

At around 8, the two will break for a joint press conference. They’ll then continue talking over and after a “working dinner,” which is scheduled for two hours but can last as long as its protagonists wish.

Meanwhile, TV and radio commentators continue to make much of Obama’s airport speech, with its carefully chosen phrasing underlining the Jews’ legitimacy in this part of the world.

“I know that in stepping foot on this land, I walk with you on the historic homeland of the Jewish people,” Obama said. “More than 3,000 years ago, the Jewish people lived here, tended the land here, prayed to God here. And after centuries of exile and persecution, unparalleled in the history of man, the founding of the Jewish state of Israel was a rebirth, a redemption, unlike any in history. Today, the sons of Abraham and the daughters of Sarah are fulfilling the dream of the ages: to be masters of their own fate in their own sovereign state. Just as we have for these past 65 years, the United States is proud to stand with you as your strongest ally and your greatest friend.”

Those are extraordinarily potent words of friendship, and are being widely appreciated as such.