Obama in pledge to Israel

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama promised today he would preserve the close relationship between the US and Israel.

During a meeting with Israeli president Shimon Peres he declared: "I'm here on this trip to reaffirm the special relationship between Israel and the US and my abiding commitment to Israel's security and my hope that I can serve as an effective partner, whether as a US senator or as president."

Mr Obama, after vowing to immediately work for a breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations if elected US president, plunged into the intricacies of the region's conflict with a packed schedule of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

He visited Israel's Holocaust memorial and met Mr Peres and Defence Minister Ehud Barak.

Iran also was expected to figure high on the agenda. Many Israelis are uncomfortable with Mr Obama's willingness to talk to Tehran.

Mr Barak's office said they discussed "all the relevant issues" and the "future challenges facing Israel and the region" - which meant probably Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts and Israel's determination that Iran not be allowed to build atomic bombs.

Mr Obama also met opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, whose Likud Party takes a hard line against the Palestinians.

He said those same two subjects were discussed in his meeting with Mr Obama.

"The senator and I agreed that the primacy of preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power is clear, and this should guide our mutual policies."

Many people in Israel are concerned that Mr Obama - a first-term US senator with little foreign policy experience - would push Israel too hard in negotiations with the Palestinians. His family's Muslim roots have added to the unease, even though Mr Obama is a Christian.

Netanyahu said Mr Obama told him that "he would never seek in any way to compromise Israel's security, and that this would be sacrosanct in his approach to political negotiations".

He was also due to drive from Jerusalem to the West Bank of Ramallah for talks with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and prime minister Salam Fayyad.

The meeting with the Palestinians stands in contrast to the decision by Republican presidential hopeful John McCain to visit only Israel in March, without stopping in the West Bank.

Mr Obama is working to shore up support among US Jewish voters. Many supported Hillary Clinton in the battle for the party's presidential nomination, and some have questioned his commitment to Israel.