Barack Obama to tackle Syria and Iran on Israel trip As the bunting was hung out for Mr Obama's arrival, Palestinians in Bethlehem hurled shoes at a giant poster of the president and demanded an end to settlement building in the West Bank. The White House has been careful to play down any prospects of a peace breakthrough, with Mr Obama saying earlier this week that his only goal was "to listen" to Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Mr Obama's failure to visit Israel in his first term saw his approval ratings plummet in Israeli opinion polls, but he will start with a trip to a US-funded Iron Dome missile defence battery in a symbolic move to reconfirm US security guarantees to Israel. Later he will meet Shimon Peres, Israel's president, and Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, for talks on the threats posed by Iran's nuclear programme and Syria's civil war. Danny Ayalon, a former Israeli deputy foreign minister and a recent ambassador to the US, said the rising threat from Iran made Mr Obama's visit more significant than those of either George Bush in 2008 or Bill Clinton's four visits in the 1990s. Palestinian children hold up posters during a rally in the West Bank city of Hebron The timing of this visit is critical. Behind closed doors Netanyahu and Obama will discuss all the important issues in detail, first and foremost Iran," Mr Ayalon said. This is an opportunity not just to check that we are on the same page. We are. Their discussion will be in terms of operational contingencies. The president will meet Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, in the West Bank, on Thursday, flying by helicopter over the Israeli settlements that Mr Obama had called on Israel to stop building soon after his election in 2008.