Pod Save America Hosts Call on Democrats to Cut All Israel Military Aid, No Longer Accept AIPAC Funding
Jews, Israelis Targeted in Austria Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents; Local Jewish Community Calls for Action
‘All of Our Strength’: Over 1,000 Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Solidarity Conference
‘Devastated’: Wesley LePatner, Killed in Manhattan Mass Shooting, Was a Jewish Communal, Philanthropic Leader
Sen. Angus King Vows to No Longer Vote for Israel Military Aid Until Gaza Conditions Improve
Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israel’s National Soccer Coach Attacked in Athens Before Soccer Fans Chant ‘F–K Israel, Free Palestine’ at Match
New York Judge Sentences Neo-Nazi to 5 Years for Livestreaming Bomb Threats Against Jewish Hospitals
US Pressures Lebanon to Issue Cabinet Decision to Disarm Hezbollah Before Talks Continue
UK Plans to Recognize Palestinian State in September Unless Israel Meets Conditions, Starmer Says
Ahead of Israel Visit, Trump Says Netanyahu Might Still Join Him at Western Wall
Error: Contact form not found.
by JNS.org
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump take a walk outside during their first White House meeting, Feb. 15, 2017. Photo: Avi Ohayon / GPO via Netanyahu’s Facebook page.
JNS.org – Ahead of his first official visit to Israel next week, President Donald Trump refused to rule out the possibility that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could accompany him during his stop at the Western Wall.
The decision to tour the Western Wall “with the rabbi is more traditional, but that could change,” Trump told Israel Hayom Editor-in-Chief Boaz Bismuth at the White House on Thursday, when asked why Netanyahu would not go with him to the Jerusalem holy site.
National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster had said earlier this week that Trump’s visit to the Western Wall would not involve any Israeli officials.
“No Israeli leaders will join President Trump to the Western Wall,” McMaster told reporters as he outlined the president’s trip.
In the same news conference, McMaster also refused to say whether or not the Western Wall is part of Israel.
McMaster said questions regarding the status of the Western Wall, which is located in the Old City of Jerusalem, “sound like a policy decision.”
The Western Wall (also known as the Kotel), regarded as one of the holiest sites in Judaism, is the outer retaining wall of the Second Temple destroyed by the Romans in the 1st century AD. Israel gained control over the Western Wall during the 1967 Six-Day War, when it captured the eastern half of Jerusalem from Jordan. Despite the Kotel’s significance in Judaism and Israel’s control over all of Jerusalem, the international community — including the US — does not officially recognize the Western Wall as part of Israel.
In his interview with Israel Hayom, Trump also spoke of the possibility of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
“I think there is a great possibility that we will make a deal,” Trump said. “I love the people of Israel, I am working very hard to finally have peace for the people of Israel and the Palestinians. Hopefully that can come about much sooner than anybody has ever projected.”
