Obama meets key Mideast leaders

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Barack Obama held talks with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak Wednesday as the Democratic White House hopeful began a day of meetings in Israel and the Palestinian territories on the latest leg of his international campaign trail.

Obama, who later met with opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, did not take questions from reporters after the meeting as he posed for news cameras at the hotel where he is staying.

The visit to the region, part of Obama's first international tour since securing the Democratic ticket, is aimed at boosting the politician's foreign policy credentials as he heads into an election showdown with Republican John McCain.

Netanyahu told reporters after his meeting that their talks focused on "the need to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons."

"The senator and I agree that the primacy of preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power is clear," he said.

"This should guide our mutual policies." Afterward, Obama laid a wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem and headed to a meeting with President Shimon Peres.

In the afternoon, Obama was due to meet with Palestinian leaders, including President Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

He was then expected to fly by helicopter to Sderot, a southern Israeli town that has come under rocket attack from Palestinian militants in Gaza. He will tour a home damaged in an attack.

"Sen. Obama looks very much forward to getting the perspectives and the insights of key leaders both in the Israeli government as well as the Palestinian Authority, and he'll see leaders of all political stripes, including the opposition," said Susan Rice, senior foreign policy adviser to Obama's campaign.

"He'll have the opportunity to see the pain and challenges posed to Israel's people by living in such dangerous proximity to Hamas rockets," Rice said, referring to the Palestinian militant group.

Obama will return to Jerusalem on Wednesday evening to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Obama has already visited Jordan, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq. He has said he is making the trip as a senator from Illinois and not a presidential candidate.

"The United States of America has one president. That president is George W. Bush," Rice said. "Sen. Obama will not be engaged in any way shape or form in negotiations, or policymaking or the like."

Obama's visit came a day after a Palestinian man went on a rampage in Jerusalem, ramming a construction vehicle into cars and buses before he was shot and killed near the hotel where the politician was due to stay.

Speaking in Jordan shortly afterwards, Obama condemned the attack, saying it was "a reminder of what Israelis have courageously lived with on a daily basis for far too long."

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