President Barack Obama has told the president of Israel that his country will have "no greater friend than the United States."

Obama also told Shimon Peres that the work their countries do together will make it more likely that children growing up in the region will have the future opportunity for security, peace and prosperity.

Obama spoke Wednesday after meeting privately with Peres. It was Obama's first visit to Israel as president of the United States, and the first foreign trip of his second term in office.