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U.S. President聽Barack Obama聽faces a stony reception when he travels to the聽West Bank聽on Thursday for talks with Palestinian leaders who accuse him of letting聽Israel聽ride rough-shod over their dream of statehood.

Obama has said he will not bring any new initiatives to try to revive long-dormant peace talks and has instead come to聽Israel聽and the聽Palestinian territories聽for simple consultations.

Arriving in聽Israel聽on Wednesday, the main focus of initial discussions with Prime Minister聽Benjamin Netanyahu聽appeared to be pressing regional concerns, primarily Iran's nuclear ambitions and the civil war in neighbouring聽Syria.

After repeated run-ins with Netanyahu during聽Obama's first term in office, the mood between the two men appeared to be much warmer, angering Palestinians, who blame the 2010 collapse of U.S.-backed peace negotiations on the Israeli leader's expansion of Jewish settlements on land where they want their state.

Obama聽is to address the decades-old conflict in talks with Palestinian President聽Mahmoud Abbas聽and also in a keynote speech just hours later to a large audience of carefully screened Israeli students in聽Jerusalem.

But after the lofty ambitions of his first term, when he appointed a special envoy to the聽Middle East聽on his very first day in charge and said peacemaking was a priority, it was clear that聽Obama has now set the bar significantly lower.

"I will consider this a success if, when I go back on Friday, I am able to say to myself I have a better understanding of what the constraints are," he told a joint news conference on Wednesday, standing alongside Netanyahu.

The three-day visit is聽Obama's first to聽Israel聽and the Israeli-occupied聽West Bank聽since entering the聽White House聽in 2009, and the inaugural foreign trip of a second and final four-year term that began in January.

Sporadic protests flared in the聽West Bank聽and聽Gaza Strip聽this week, with Palestinians accusing聽Obama of not doing enough to halt Israeli settlement-building on land seized in the 1967聽Middle East聽war.

In 2009,聽Obama bluntly told聽Israel聽it had to halt settlement construction, but he later backed away from the demand and made no mention of the enclaves on Wednesday.

Posters depicting聽Obama were defaced in the聽West Bank聽cities of聽Ramallah聽and Bethlehem earlier this week and anti-U.S. sentiment bubbled up on social media.

"Do Not Enter," said one poster put up on Facebook, showing Obama's face with a red line crossed through it. "The people of Palestine do not welcome you here."

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Obama was feted when he arrived at聽Tel Aviv airport聽on Wednesday, with Israeli leaders lining up to praise the U.S. president for his firm commitment to the security of the Jewish state and his pledge not to let Iran develop nuclear weapons.

Netanyahu, while citing what he described as聽Israel's right to defend itself, said effusively that he was "absolutely convinced" that聽Obama was determined to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran.聽Tehran聽says it is enriching uranium for peaceful purposes.

After four years of often icy relations with Netanyahu, the body language suddenly changed. Gone were the pursed lips and ill-disguised scowls. In came firm handshakes and back-slapping.

"Israel聽has no better friend than the聽United States聽of America," Netanyahu said, adding that he hoped his visit would help "turn the page" in relations with the Palestinians.

"Israel聽remains fully committed to peace and to the solution of two states for two peoples. We stretch out our hand in friendship to the Palestinian people," he added.

Watching from聽Ramallah, the Palestinian administrative centre just outside聽Jerusalem, Abbas's allies accused Netanyahu of repeating empty rhetoric and said聽Obama showed no inclination to re-engage with an issue that confounded his predecessors.

"The primary purpose of this visit is Israeli security, Israeli-American relations and saying that the U.S. has its back," said聽Hanan Ashrawi, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).

Obama will fly by helicopter the few miles from聽Jerusalem聽to聽Ramallah聽on Thursday morning, giving himself a birds' eye view of the walls and fences of the separation barrier between the two cities and of Israeli settlements on surrounding hilltops.

Before that, he will go to a museum in聽Jerusalem聽to see the Dead Sea Scrolls - ancient Jewish parchments discovered in the聽West Bank聽in the 1940s.

Israeli diplomats say that will help make amends to聽Israel聽for a speech聽Obama made in聽Cairo聽in 2009, when he appeared to argue the Jewish state derived its legitimacy from the Holocaust rather than an attachment to the land dating back to the Bible.

Obama will travel to Bethlehem on Friday to visit the Church of the Nativity, and will also lay a wreath on the grave in聽Jerusalem聽of聽Theodor Herzl, the Zionist visionary who died more than four decades before the 1948 founding of聽Israel.

The U.S. leader will then fly to neighbouring聽Jordan, one of only two Arab states that has made peace with聽Israel.

(Additional reporting by Noah Browning in聽Ramallah, Nidal al-Mughrabi in聽Gaza聽and Matt Spetalnick and Jeffrey Heller in聽Jerusalem; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)