CAIRO, Egypt — When President Obama steps to the podium Thursday in Cairo to propose a new American partnership with the Muslim world, Arabs across the region will be waiting to hear what he has to say about Israel as much as what he has to say about Islam.

Although the White House says Obama won't unveil detailed policy plans, expectations are running high after eight years of often antagonistic relations between the region's leaders and the Bush administration.

Critics of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's autocratic rule expect Obama to champion democratic reforms in Egypt. Iraqi leaders will be listening for assurances that Obama will follow through on his pledge to withdraw U.S. troops from their country. Pro-Western Middle East politicians want him to aggressively challenge Iran. American rivals such as Iran and Syria will be watching to see how conciliatory he's willing to be with his evolving diplomatic plans.

However, agreement is widespread that what Obama says about Israel and the Palestinians will be paramount.

"You have to give them hope that the United States will stop its bias towards the Israeli side," said Emad Gad, a senior analyst at Cairo's state-run Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.

"If President Obama puts the Palestinian issue on the real road to a settlement, then I think the atmosphere in the region will change, because this is the main reason that Islamic fundamentalists can recruit."

If Obama hopes to transform America's image in the Middle East, Arab politicians, Middle East analysts and U.S. adversaries expect the president to have to say clearly that Israel must make difficult concessions.

In the past week, the Obama administration has sent the strongest signals yet that it's willing to challenge Israel on the most vexing issues.

In a decisive break with the past administration, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has explicitly rejected Israelis' arguments that they're allowed to continue building in existing settlements beyond their country's border under the U.S.-backed and Israeli-endorsed "road map" for peace in the region.

"Time is of the essence," Obama said after meeting Thursday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House. He said clearly that Israel must "stop the settlements."

"We can't continue with a drift, with the increased fear and resentments on both sides, the sense of hopelessness around the situation that we've seen for many years now," Obama said.

In an apparent concession, Israel has focused on a small number of rustic outposts set up by hard-line Jewish settlers, who generally oppose giving up any West Bank land to the Palestinians. In recent days, Israeli soldiers have demolished a handful of homes in the smaller illegal outposts.

Arab and Muslim leaders will be watching for decisive international steps if Israel refuses to accede to the pressure.

Obama is heading to the Middle East early in his term with tremendous political cachet.

While animosity toward the United States has waned in the Arab world since Obama took office, the recently released Annual Arab Public Opinion Survey found that more than three-quarters of the respondents across the region still view America negatively.

Because anticipation is so high, Obama also has to temper expectations that he can achieve a Middle East miracle, said Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Middle East Center, in Beirut, Lebanon.

"He is starting a new journey and he is trying to build his credibility and rapport with the Arab and Muslim public," Salem said.

"He has to be realistic and not promise too much, because that will backfire, and people will then find him not credible. So it's a difficult balancing act."