TEL AVIV
US President Barack Obama arrived in Israel on Wednesday for his first visit abroad since taking office second time.
Obama underlined his country's alliance with Israel and said, "Our alliance is eternal. We stay side to side because peace must come to the Holy Land."
Right after touching down aboard Air Force One at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, President Obama delivered a speech.
Obama thanked for a warm welcome and reminded, he travelled to Israel three times.
He said, by forming their own state, in one sense it was a re-birth of Jewish people who used to live in those soil thousands of years ago and were exiled and executed.
Obama said, people who live in Israel as of today were making the dreams of eras come true and added, "Israel has been the strongest ally and greatest friend of US in the past 65 years."
"Across this region, the winds of change bring both promise and peril. So I see this visit as an opportunity to reaffirm the unbreakable bond between our nations, to restate America's unwavering commitment to Israel's security and to speak directly to the people of Israel and to your neighbours," said Obama.
Obama mentioned, time to time he was being asked why US was standing next to Israel and Obama made clear, "That has an easy answer. We stand together because we share a common story."
Obama underlined, both Israel and US were two strong democracies, pointed out the trade, health and technology cooperations between two countries and said, "We stand together because peace must come to the holy land. For even as we are clear-eyed about the difficulties, we will never lose sight of the vision of Israel at peace with its neighbors. I would like to start my visit by stating this clearly that the US stands with Israel because it is in our fundamental security interest. It makes us both stronger and it makes the world a better place."
The US president completed his speech by adding, "Our alliance is eternal. It is for ever."
Furthermore, Obama viewed the Iron Dome missile system which was funded by US and specifically brought to the airport with Israel's President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Later on, Obama headed to Jerusalem with "Marine Force-1" helicopter.
