WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama embarks on his first regional Middle East mission Tuesday, seeking Arab backing for his bid to revive peace moves while a US confrontation steadily builds with Israel.

On a trip highlighted by his long-awaited address to the Muslim world in Cairo on Thursday, Obama will also attempt to prod moribund regional peace diplomacy back to life.

He will fly first to Saudi Arabia for talks with King Abdullah, who has been trying to relaunch a 2002 Arab-backed initiative.

Obama says he is confident of reviving meaningful Israeli-Palestinian talks, but the White House has been coy on his strategy, following a flurry of meetings with regional leaders in recent weeks.

The president has repeatedly backed a two-state solution to the conflict, despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reluctance to embrace such a position.

Obama told Netanyahu in talks two weeks ago that Jewish settlement building in the West Bank had to be "stopped" in comments seen as a gesture to Palestinians and the wider Arab world.

But the Israeli leader, who heads a hawkish governing coalition, has ceded no ground, saying on Monday "we can't freeze life in the settlements" and arguing for natural growth of existing compounds.

Obama then raised the temperature, telling National Public Radio he would not shirk from tough talk despite the enduring US alliance with Israel.

"Part of being a good friend is being honest," Obama said.

"I think there have been times where we are not as honest as we should be about the fact that the current direction, the current trajectory, in the region is profoundly negative."

Obama, who last week met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, is expected to lobby Saudi Arabia and Egypt for gestures which would widen Netanyahu's room for political maneuver.

"I think the administration is interested in the April 2002 Saudi plan," said Steven Cook, of the Council on Foreign Relations.

The initiative calls for full normalization of relations between Arab states and Israel, a full withdrawal by Israel from Arab land, the creation of a Palestinian state and an "equitable" solution for Palestinian refugees.

"People see it as a way of skirting the real tight criteria of the international quartet which Hamas has been unwilling to accept," said Cook.

The Hamas Islamist group, which rules Gaza, has been told by the Middle East Quartet -- the European Union, Russia, United Nations and United States -- that it must recognize Israel, renounce violence, and abide by prior agreements made by the Palestinians, in return for a place at the table.

Some analysts see the 2002 Saudi-inspired plan as a way to broaden Middle East diplomacy and bypass stalemated Israeli-Palestinian talks.

King Abdullah II of Jordan has been pushing a "57-state" solution, which would grant Israel sweeping diplomatic recognition in return for making peace with the Palestinians.

So far though, it seems unlikely Arab states will grant early concessions to Israel without some moderation of Netanyahu's position on settlements.

"Being able to match the minimum that the Arabs would accept with the maximum that Netanyahu would actually be prepared to give is really a fool's errand," said Flynt Leverett, a US official who left the Bush administration over differences on Middle East policy.

Obama will face questioning from Saudi King Abdullah on his plans to engage arch US-foe Iran, which some Saudis fear could result in a grand bargain which harms the kingdom's interests.

Some observers see an opportunity to exploit Arab disquiet about Iran's nuclear program to forge an Arab-Israeli compact.

But such hopes have proven fruitless in the past.

"This is something that the Bush administration tried and failed. This is something that even the Clinton administration (tried) in its way," said Leverett, now director of the Geopolitics of Energy Initiative at the New America Foundation.

Obama heads Thursday to Egypt and will meet President Hosni Mubarak, who cancelled a recent visit to Washington over the death of his grandson.

The trip will reflect Egypt's place alongside Saudi Arabia as a prime Arab player in regional diplomacy, analysts said.

Obama has said he will touch on the Middle East peace process in his Cairo University speech, a more general attempt to build bridges between Washington and Islam, but will not unveil a detailed plan.

Following on Obama's heels, US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell will travel to the region next week, the State Department said Tuesday.