President Trump continued his first foreign trip as president as he arrived in Israel on Monday for two days of meetings with leaders and visits to holy sites.
Air Force One touched down in Tel Aviv at about 5:22 a.m. EST., which is 12:22 p.m. local time. Trump is meeting with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during the visit.
Trump left the United States on Friday. He spent the last two days in Saudi Arabia, where he delivered a speech to Muslim leaders in Riyadh. “I will travel to Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and then to the Vatican – visiting many of the holiest places in the three Abrahamic faiths,” Trump said during his speech. “If these three faiths can join together in cooperation, then peace in this world is possible – including peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”
On Monday, Trump is scheduled to meet with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and then give remarks. He will visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Western Wall. He is also expected to speak after meeting with Netanyahu. Trump will also dine with the prime minister.
On Tuesday, Trump is scheduled to meet with Abbas, visit Israel’s Holocaust memorial and go to the Israel Museum.
Traveling with Trump is Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and senior adviser whose portfolio includes working to broker peace in the Middle East.
“If you can’t produce peace in the Middle East, nobody can,” Trump told Kushner during an inaugural celebration in January. “OK? All my life I’ve been hearing that’s the toughest deal in the world to make.”
During a joint press conference at the White House with Netanyahu in February, Trump indicated he will not solely push for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. An Israeli reporter asked Trump: “Mr. President, in your vision for the new Middle East peace, are you ready to give up the notion of two-state solution adopted by previous administrations?”
Trump replied: “So I’m looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like.”
Trump’s arrival comes a week after reports that Trump shared intelligence, provided by Israel, on ISIS to Russian officials during a recent Oval Office meeting.
While in Israel, Trump is also expected to discuss Iran. “It is a government that speaks openly of mass murder, vowing the destruction of Israel, death to America, and ruin for many leaders and nations in this room,” he said in Sunday’s speech in Saudi Arabia.
Trump’s trip also comes as he has yet to take action on his campaign promise to move the United States’ embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.
“As far as the embassy moving to Jerusalem,” Trump said at February’s news conference with Netanyahu, “I would love to see that happen. We’re looking at it very, very strongly. We’re looking at it with great care. Believe me. We’ll see what happens. Okay?”
After two days in Israel, Trump will travel to the Vatican, Brussels and Italy.
