King Abdullah II of Jordan, the first Arab leader to visit Washington and meet with President Barack Obama, spoke Friday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank here.

Abdullah's speech was a barely-disguised plea for Obama to put deeds behind his promises of a commitment to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict -- and to put pressure on Israel's new hard-line government to compromise.

"Events are already testing American credibility. These include Israeli voices for turning back the clock on negotiations -- to disestablish the established agenda for peace. And they include extremist voices in the Arab world that preach peace."

The "Israeli voices" that Abdullah was referring to come from Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who has questioned the Annapolis peace process begun under the former Bush administration, as well as previous peace deals.

"One of the vital functions the United States can play right now is to help its friends think and act in ... strategic terms," Abdullah said. Translated out of diplomatic code, Abdullah is saying that Obama should convince Israel that peace with the Palestinians is in its own best interest, and it needs to change course on key issues such as Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

"We do not have time to engage in yet another open-ended 'process'. We have seen what comes of process without progress," he said.

Abdullah--who presumably delivered a similar message to Obama in the Oval Office--also pushed back against the approach being advocated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said economic development in the West Bank must come before a political deal.

"Let me be clear: any Israeli effort to substitute Palestinian development for Palestinian independence cannot bring peace and stability to the region. The path for peace can go only through the two-state solution," the king said.

Abdullah was warmly received in Washington. But he'll be followed next month by Netanyahu, who'll be bearing  quite a different message. It'll be Obama's happy task to try to bridge the gap.