US President Donald Trump visited Israel and the West Bank this week, where he underlined his commitment to bringing about peace, and reaffirmed the “unbreakable” bond between US and Israel.
President Trump arrived at Ben Gurion International Airport on Monday afternoon, in the first ever direct flight from Riyadh to Tel Aviv.
On his trip, he became the first sitting US President to visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
Speaking at Prime Minister Netanyahu’s residence, President Trump said: “I was deeply moved by my visit to the Western Wall. Words fail to capture the experience. It will leave an impression on me forever”.
Upon the President’s arrival to Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told President Trump that “your visit here, Mr. President, is truly historic,” and that “never before has the first foreign trip of a president of the US included a visit to Israel. Thank you for this powerful expression of your friendship to Israel”.
President Trump also met Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin and told a joint press conference that his visit to Saudi Arabia left him encouraged about the prospects for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
According to a report by London-based newspaper Al Hayat, President Trump is set to unveil an Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative within a month.
President Trump said that Arab leaders who attended the Riyadh summit on Sunday “voiced concerns we all share – about ISIS, about Iran’s rising ambitions and rolling back its gains … I believe that a new level of partnership is possible and will happen. This includes a renewed effort at peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians”.
Trump vowed to tackle the nuclear threat from Iran, stating: “The United States and Israel can declare with one voice that Iran can never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon.” He added that Iran “must cease its training and funding of terror groups and militias”.
President Rivlin said: “Our destiny — Palestinians and Jews — is to live together in this land, Mr. President. We must build trust and cooperation between us. But in order to achieve this we need new ideas, new energy, that will help us move forward, together.”
Trump ended his time in Israel with an emotional visit to Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.
