US President Barack Obama on Thursday made clear his views on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in an eye-catching speech on US-Muslim ties, which Israeli analysts said should be considered acceptable to the Jewish state.

During his "truth-telling" address aimed to mend ties with the Muslim world, Obama recalled the sufferings of both the Jews and the Palestinians and highlighted their aspirations for security, sovereignty and peace.

He said both sides need to fulfill their responsibilities in realizing peace, calling on the Palestinians to abandon violence, which Obama said "is a dead end," and on the Israelis to freeze settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, in which the United States sees "no legitimacy."

Obama said his administration does not intend to force Israel and the Palestinians to make certain moves, but to help the two neighbors push the process forward.

Meanwhile, the US president turned to the Arab states, urging them to make further progress on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative and to help build Palestinian institutions and recognize Israel.

"I don't think he said anything that any Israeli would be frightened by," said Peter Medding, a political analyst with Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Noting that there was very little detail throughout Obama's speech, Medding said Obama's basic message was looking forward with a vision and not lingering on the past.

Israelis who want to keep the West Bank under Israeli control would be disappointed by the speech, but most Israelis are realistic and have already resigned themselves to territorial compromises, said analysts.

"The settlers won't like it. The government may say it was excellent, while one or two ministers might say otherwise," said Yossi Shain, head of the diplomacy department at Tel Aviv University.

"But remember, he didn't speak to the people of Israel. He was addressing the Arabs and Muslims," Shain added.

Some Israelis were angered that Obama chose not to visit Israel during his ongoing Middle East trip, yet analysts said that it is not right to read too much into this.

On the eve of his trip, Obama held a surprise meeting with visiting Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak in the White House. During his trip, Obama would visit the Buchenwald concentration camp, where many Jews were exterminated during World War II.

Meanwhile, Obama also voiced against Holocaust denial, saying that denying the Holocaust is baseless. He did not mention a name, yet such comments apparently pointed to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, a country Israel regards as its major threat.

The "strong bond" between the United States and Israel "is unbreakable," Obama told the Muslim world.

Yet as the Obama administration sets foot in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, signs of conflicts between the United States and the Jewish state have become notable, particularly over the settlement issue.

Israel hopes to get guarantees from Washington that it will be allowed to retain large settlement blocs in any final-status agreement with the Palestinians, yet such a pledge has never crossed Obama's tongue. Instead, Obama has repeatedly urged Israel to totally freeze its settlement expansion.

However, analysts downplayed the possibility of a collision between the two close allies, noting that both governments are at their early phases.

They said that it would take both administrations a while to work out their exact positions before major moves can be seriously considered.

(Xinhua News Agency June 5, 2009)