Scroll at Western Wall & hope for peace
Trump becomes 1st US President to visit Jews’ holiest site
Jerusalem, May 22: Donald Trump on Monday became the first sitting US President to visit the Western Wall in the disputed city of Jerusalem, placing his hand on one of the most sacred sites in Judaism.
Mr Trump said that he had come to Israel from a weekend visit to Saudi Arabia with new reasons to hope that peace and stability could be achieved in Middle East.
“We have before us a rare opportunity to bring security and stability and peace to this region and its people, defeating terrorism and creating a future of harmony, prosperity and peace, but we can only get there working together. There is no other way,” he said in a brief speech on arrival in Israel.
Mr Trump is to hold talks separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The Western Wall is the holiest site where Jews can pray. Mr Trump, wearing a black skullcap, paused in front of it, then placed what appeared to be a written prayer or note between its stones, as is custom.
He was not accompanied by any Israeli leaders during the hugely symbolic visit.
Allowing them to do so could have led to accusations that Washington was implicitly recognising Israel’s unilateral claim of sovereignty over the site, which would break with years of US and international precedent.
Security was tight, with the usually bustling Old City, where the Western Wall is located, essentially on lockdown and the plaza leading to the site cleared.
Mr Trump was accompanied by the Western Wall’s rabbi, Shmuel Rabinovitz, during the visit.
Mr Trump’s daughter Ivanka, who converted to Judaism and is married to one of the President’s top aides, Jared Kushner, also visited the women’s side of the wall.
Mr Trump, who is Protestant, is the first US
Continued from Page 1 President to have Jewish members of his immediate family.
The Western Wall is the last remnant of the supporting wall of the second Jewish temple, built by King Herod and destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
It is situated below the AlAqsa mosque compound, Islam’s third-holiest site, referred to by Jews as the Temple Mount and considered their holiest. The visit to the Western Wall drew controversy before Mr Trump even left Washington, when US officials declined to say whether it belonged to Israel.
The status of Jerusalem is ultra-sensitive and has been among the most difficult issues in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Israel occupied east Jerusalem, where the Western Wall is located, and the West Bank in 1967 in moves never recognised by the international community.
It later annexed east Jerusalem and claims the entire city as its capital. The Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. The traditional US position has been that Jerusalem’s status must be negotiated between the two sides.