President Trump on Monday became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Western Wall.
Trump, wearing a yarmulke, was accompanied on a tour of the wall by first lady Melania Trump, daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump and son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner. Trump was seen placing his hand on the wall.
Trump’s visit to the Jewish holy site in the Old City of Jerusalem follows conflicting comments from inside the Trump administration on its position regarding who claims sovereignty over it.
#BREAKING: Trump becomes first sitting U.S. president to visit the Western Wall pic.twitter.com/r2a5Cb1HF9— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) May 22, 2017
Last week, Israeli officials were unsettled after claiming an American official preparing for the trip told them the Western Wall is in the West Bank and is not part of Israeli territory.
Following those comments, Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, declined to state a position, calling it “a policy decision.”
But then U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said last week she believes the Western Wall is “part of Israel.”
“I think that’s how we’ve always seen it and that’s how we should pursue. We’ve always thought that the Western Wall was part of Israel,” Haley said in a television interview.
During a gaggle with reporters on Air Force One on Monday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was asked if he agreed with Haley.
“The wall is part of Jerusalem,” Tillerson said.
Ahead of Trump’s visit, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to react to the comments from Trump administration officials Sunday: “The Temple Mount and Western Wall will always be under Israeli sovereignty.”
Before visiting the Western Wall, Trump also toured the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
According to a pool report, the entire Old City was closed during Trump’s tour.
Trump was met at the Western Wall by Shmuel Rabinovich, the rabbi of the Western Wall, and Mordechai “Suli” Elias, the director general of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation.
While Trump is the first sitting president to visit the Western Wall, Barack Obama visited while he was a presidential candidate in 2008.
Earlier Monday, during a joint conference with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Trump said: “Today we have so many incredible opportunities before us, and my hope for this visit is that we seize every single one of them.”
“I am thrilled to be here on behalf of the American people,” Trump said. “I know Israel and America share the same goals, and I have great confidence that we can achieve tremendous success together. We can achieve all of our goals together. President Rivlin, I look forward to working with you and to seeing more of the sacred land and getting to spend time with the remarkable people of Israel.”
Trump arrived in Israel on Monday for two days of meetings with leaders and visits to holy sites.
Trump is meeting with both 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.
Trump is also expected to dine with Netanyahu on Monday. On Tuesday, Trump is scheduled to meet with Abbas, visit Israel’s Holocaust memorial and go to the Israel Museum.
