With Speech in Egypt, Obama Calculates Risk of Alienating Israel Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In Fox News - June 3, 2009 - 12:00am As President Obama prepares to depart for the Middle East to promote improved U.S. relations with Muslim nations, he has reaffirmed Iran's right to develop nuclear energy and met with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The president is not headed to Israel on his five-day tour, one of the most important trips of his fledgling presidency. Instead, he will arrive in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and deliver a speech at Cairo University in Egypt on Thursday. He then travels to France and Germany for D-Day commemorations. » Read more