Speaking with Israel's Channel 2 about his upcoming trip, he spoke about Jerusalem.
"The last time I was there as a senator I still had the option of going through Old City in Jerusalem. That option becomes a lot trickier once you're president. One of the toughest things about being president. And that's true here in the United States but it's certainly true when I'm traveling... is just the spontaneous interactions you have when you walk in to a restaurant or go to the beach. Or meeting people day to day, getting a sense of how they are feeling and what they are thinking about the world and life," Obama said. "Sometimes I have this fantasy put on a disguise, wear a fake mustache, I could wander through Tel Aviv, go to a bar have a conversation, or go down to a university, meet w/ students in a setting where it wasn't as formal. We're going to try to find as many opportunities as I can to interact with the Israeli people, but you've tapped into something that chafes at me. It's the toughest thing about being president. That you can't just slip out and interact with people without having a bunch of guys with machine guns."
