Obama to visit Israel: President Obama will visit Israel in the spring, White House says

President Barack Obama will visit Israel in the spring, the White House has said, marking Obama’s first visit to the staunch US ally since becoming president. Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the visit by phone in late January, when Obama congratulated Netanyahu on his success in Israel’s recent White House has not released the date of Obama’s trip or details about Obama’s itinerary, but Israel’s Channel 10 reported that a visit had been scheduled for March 20. Although Obama visited the Israel while running for president in 2008, he has not been back since, drawing intense criticism from some pro-Israel groups who have claimed he is insufficiently supportive of the United States’ closest ally in the Middle East. Other top administration officials, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have visited.