Today, on the evening of the second day of his visit to Israel, U.S. President Barack Obama gave a speech in Jerusalem. The president spoke for a little under an hour, and touched on topics close to the hearts of Israelis: Peace with the Palestinians, Iran, Syria and the relationship with the U.S. Check out our word cloud (Courtesy of wordle.net) of the speech. The larger words are the ones that he repeated most. For example, Obama said the word Israel 82 times in his speech, but he only said the word Palestine twice. Read the full text of the speech here.

Just a few routine questions, sir: U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Israel Wednesday for his first visit since his 2008 candidacy. The country is well-know for its strict, ever-vigilant immigration authorities. With this important guest, however, Israel wouldn’t have messed up and let its airport security people welcome the president, would it? Read more. 

U.S. President Barack Obama called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday and congratulated him on the results of the Israeli election.

A statement released by the White House said that Obama congratulated Netanyahu “on his party’s success in winning a plurality of Knesset seats in Israel’s recent election.”

Obama is the only foreign leader to call and congratulate Netanyahu thus far.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday evening to congratulate him on his victory in Tuesday’s election.

“This was a vote of confidence in your leadership,” Netanyahu told Obama. Netanyahu has rejected accusations that he had hurt relations with Washington through his perceived preference for defeated Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Read more.

President Barack Obama won 69 percent of the Jewish vote in the 2012 elections, according to an exit poll.

Republicans, meanwhile, noted the discrepancy between Tuesday’s numbers and the 78 percent Obama garnered in 2008 exit polls.

Jewish Democrats lauded Obama’s victory, praising the support given to him by American Jewish voters. Read more.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney remain essentially tied in the race for the White House with razor thin margins in four key swing states, according to a Reuters/Ipsos daily tracking poll released on Saturday. Read more.

Hummus is standard fare at the White House, thanks to Obama’s chef. 

White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford says they make hummus and other Middle Eastern favorites such as eggplant spread to go with the vegetables they grow in the White House kitchen garden.

Chef Comerford believes the Middle Eastern diet is a healthy way of life, one that fits the White House policy of healthy eating. Read more.

On the eve of presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s visit to Israel, a new Gallup poll reveals that Jewish American voters continue to support his rival, U.S. President Barack Obama, by a wide 68%-25% margin.

According to the poll, released on Friday, Americans have a generally positive view of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with 35% viewing him favorably, compared to 23% who view him negatively. 41% of Americans say they have no opinion of Netanyahu one way or another. Read more.