9. Thou shalt make thy own case.
Israeli officials from Ehud Barak (the left-leaning outgoing defense minister) to Danny Ayalon (a right-leaning former ambassador to Washington) have touted the Obama administration's military cooperation with Israel as the strongest in memory. The Iron Dome rocket-intercept system -- funded mostly by U.S. dollars, and which Obama will visit on his trip -- is but one example of that cooperation, and one for which Israelis are deeply grateful. If the president can convince them their misgivings towards him have more to do with style than substance, he may well emerge from the Holy Land unscathed.
JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images
SUBJECTS:
