Barack Obama to arrive in Israel Tuesday

U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama is scheduled to land in Israel on Tuesday for a visit, which will include meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Obama is scheduled to dine with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Tuesday, and will later visit the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. Over dinner, the prime minister plans to discuss Israel's military intelligence on the Iranian nuclear program and stress the importance of maintaining diplomatic pressure on Tehran.

Obama, who was in Afghanistan on Sunday, will be accompanied by 100 U.S. reporters.

On Wednesday morning, he will meet with officials including opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

Livni to join tour

Livni will then accompany Obama on a tour, including a helicopter flight over the disputed areas with the Palestinians and a visit to the Qassam-stricken city of Sderot, where Obama will meet with Mayor Eli Moyal and residents.

Later in the day, he will travel to the West Bank city of Ramallah, where he will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

The trip is being organized by two former senior diplomats: Dennis Ross, who was a special envoy to the Middle East under U.S. president Bill Clinton, and Dan Kurtzer, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel. Obama's trip coordinators have asked Israeli officials not to treat the event as a state visit and to give it the same attention as they did John McCain's visit a few months ago. He will fly to Europe on Thursday morning.