“President Obama’s journey to Israel this week is actually two visits wrapped into one. The first is a public goodwill mission. The odds are high this will succeed. The second is a policy summit with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Its odds of success are far from certain.

Some of Obama’s critics say he is traveling to the Jewish State for the first time in his presidency simply to check a box that has remained empty since he last visited as a candidate in 2008. Obama passed Israel by in the White House, even after he made a landmark speech in Cairo calling for a new relationship with the Muslim world months after the start of his first term.

But there is nothing perfunctory about the trip or its goals — which involve the very stability of the world’s most volatile region and the very future of America’s best friend in that part of the world.

The first challenge faced by Obama and Netanyahu will be to repair a personal relationship that was torn by differences over finding a path to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Coming into better sync will be crucial for the two men to jointly address another long-brewing crisis: Iran.”

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