Obama, right, met Netanyahu among other leaders as part of his Israel tour [AFP]

Obama travelled from Jerusalem to the West Bank city on Wednesday for talks with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and Salam Fayyad, the prime minister.

Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian peace negotiator, said Abbas planned to tell Obama that, if elected president, he must not waste time and must immediately turn his attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Obama has said he will work to bring Israel and the Palestinians together "starting from the minute I'm sworn into office".

But he has cautioned it is "unrealistic to expect that a US president alone can suddenly snap his fingers and bring about peace in this region".

Security was tight, with helmeted riot police carrying truncheons and rifles lining the access road to the walled compound as he shook hands with an Abbas aide and then entered the building.

Some goodwill

Obama's visit in the West Bank has generated some goodwill, particularly since his Republican rival, John McCain, did not visit the Palestinians during a Middle East trip earlier in the summer.

After visiting the West Bank, Obama was to meet Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister, in Jerusalem, fly by helicopter to the southern Israeli town of Sderot - the target of many Palestinian rocket attacks - then fly back to Jerusalem to meet Ehud Olmert, the prime minister.

Earlier, while meeting Shimon Peres at the Israeli president's official residence in Jerusalem, Obama pledged that that as president he would preserve the close ties between the US and Israel, and that Israel's security would be a top priority in his administration.

"I'm here on this trip to reaffirm the special relationship between Israel and the United States and my abiding commitment to Israel's security and my hope that I can serve as an effective partner, whether as a US senator or as president," Obama said.

At Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, he laid a wreath, lit a memorial flame, and deemed the place to ultimately be "a place of hope".

He was also due to tour the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site.

Packed schedule

Obama had a packed schedule of meetings with Israeli leaders. Iran was expected to figure high on the agenda, with many Israelis uncomfortable with Obama's openness to talking to Tehran.

Earlier on Wednesday, Obama met Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, and the Likud bloc's Benjamin Netanyahu, who is the parliamentary opposition leader.

Barak's office issued a statement saying the two discussed "all the relevant issues" and the "future challenges facing Israel and the region" - which meant they most likely discussed Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts and Israel's determination that Iran not be allowed to build atomic bombs.

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