Michael Oren, L.A. Times

President Obama is visiting Israel this week, the first foreign trip of his second term. Some commentators have criticized the tour as a diversion from the president's intention to pivot toward the Asia-Pacific region. Why go to Israel now, they ask, and anger the Arabs at a time of rising Middle Eastern turmoil? Others claim that the trip is merely a maneuver designed to achieve some memorable photo-ops rather than to advance crucial American interests.

Indeed, the president could have traveled farther east and to a less controversial country. But the fact remains that the United States is economically, militarily and strategically engaged in the Middle East. And Israel, a nation of only 8 million and the size of New Jersey, keeps chaos from completely engulfing the area. Read More...​