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President Obama鈥檚 speech in Jerusalem Thursday was appropriately delivered to a largely youthful audience, because in many ways the president鈥檚 tone and message were those of a father expressing unconditional support 鈥� even as he prods with lessons of tradition, compassion, and justice.

Mr. Obama went further than he ever had, perhaps further than any US president, in asserting America鈥檚 bonds with Israel. But having once established those unshakable links, he went on to admonish his listeners, as any father has his children: He urged them to have the strength and an ancestral sense of right to be even better human beings and correct the wrongs around them.

Obama鈥檚 admonitions in large part focused on Israel鈥檚 occupation of Palestinian territories and the limitations that occupation would, in the long run, place on Israel鈥檚 fulfillment as a democratic Jewish state.

鈥淧ut yourself in their shoes 鈥� look at the world through their eyes,鈥� Obama told his Israeli audience 鈥� again, with a line any father has used. He went on to list the ways that Israel鈥檚 occupation 鈥渋s not right鈥� and is as damaging to Israelis as it is to Palestinians.

The speech set a tone that was appropriate, some analysts say, given Obama鈥檚 audience and his objectives.

鈥淚t is a speech in a fatherly mode, but the Israelis, and I would say the Palestinians, do need to put themselves in the other鈥檚 shoes,鈥� says Doron Ben-Atar, a history professor at Fordham University in New York. 鈥淪o what he did was absolutely necessary.鈥�

Professor Ben-Atar, an Israeli-born American, says he heard as Obama鈥檚 central theme 鈥渉is call for the people of the region to force their leaders to make peace.鈥�

But Obama鈥檚 particular approach, others say, was to convince young Israelis that while 鈥減eace is hard鈥� 鈥� as Obama put it a day earlier 鈥� they can make the hard choices for peace because it is 鈥渏ust.鈥� And because America will always have Israel鈥檚 back, he said.

鈥淚 would call it the 鈥榖lank check鈥� speech. Obama essentially told Israelis that they have unconditional support from America in perpetuity,鈥� says Daniel Levy, a former Washington-based Middle East analyst who is now director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London. 鈥淏ut like any unweighted unconditional gift, used wrongly the blank check could be ruinous.鈥�

From there, Mr. Levy says, Obama made 鈥渢he case for peace from a different angle.鈥� He warned Israelis that without ending the occupation and making peace, 鈥測ou will over time have less security;... you will not realize your full economic potential ... because absent peace and security, [Israel] will not become a true regional hub and global magnet;... you will become isolated, [and] finally ... you will not live up to your own traditions, your own standards, your own humanity,鈥� Levy said.

What struck Levy as really 鈥渘ew鈥� in the speech was Obama鈥檚 鈥渄irect appeal to the Israeli public ... to push their leaders to take risks for peace.鈥�

Should Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expect a surge of pressure to take on the peace issue? Maybe not, if Obama鈥檚 history of high-profile speechmaking is repeated. The president鈥檚 much-touted Cairo speech in June 2009 was meant to launch a new relationship between America and the Muslim world. But if anything, that relationship is even more broken now.

Still, the basic question of 鈥淲ill it make a difference?鈥� hangs over the Jerusalem speech. Some very early barometer-reading is expected to take place Saturday, when Secretary of State John Kerry returns to Jerusalem from Jordan 鈥� the last stop of Obama鈥檚 four-day trip 鈥� to see what, if any, steps might be possible toward relaunching peace talks.

鈥淢y hunch is that Kerry will be tasked to come up with a plan that would eventually be presented in public if Obama decides at some stage in the coming year or more to go back to the Israeli public and to invest some capital in putting forward something concrete,鈥� Levy says.

Two elements that Levy says he would expect to see as part of any renewed initiative: reconfirmation by Obama of the parameters for territory and security that he laid out in May 2011, and some restatement by Arab countries of the Arab peace initiative. Obama made passing but notable references to both elements in a Jerusalem press conference Wednesday, Levy notes.

But any new effort could hinge on whether the publics 鈥� Israelis and Palestinians 鈥� change course and begin to pressure their leaders to make peace a priority.

Most regional analysts are not optimistic. Palestinians view the decades-old 鈥減eace process鈥� as a disaster that has allowed Israel to gobble up growing chunks of their land, they say, while many Israelis see their tumultuous neighborhood and favor hunkering down over reaching out.

鈥淚t鈥檚 true the Israelis are very much in their own shoes; they feel besieged,鈥� says Ben-Atar of Fordham, referring to Obama鈥檚 call for Israelis to see the world from another perspective. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 any doubt [Obama] redefined his relationship with Israel ... but we鈥檒l have to see if something changed beyond that.鈥�