House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows Tuesday called on national security adviser H.R. McMaster to withdraw his statement questioning whether the Western Wall is in Israel, and said his comment could mark “a concerning shift in the policy of this administration.”
Meadows, a leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and member of the Foreign Relations panel, wants Trump’s team to maintain that the Western Wall is part of Israel. The wall is a remnant of the retaining wall below the site of the Jewish Temple that was destroyed by the Romans.
On Tuesday, McMaster dodged when asked about the Western Wall. “That sounds like a policy decision,” he told during a Tuesday briefing.
But Meadows said there should be “no question” about it.
“There is no question that both geographically and historically the Western Wall has been part of the state of Israel,” Meadows said. “I hope H.R. McMaster will retract his remarks swiftly.”
An American official was previously reported to have told Israeli leaders that they don’t “have jurisdiction over the area,” according to a CNN summary. “Israel is convinced that this statement is contrary to the position of President Trump, as expressed in his firm opposition to the most recent UN Security Council Resolution,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Monday.
Israel took control of the wall during the Six-Day War of 1967, in which Israel launched a preemptive attack against massing Egyptian forces and repelled an attack from Jordan and Syria. Palestinian leaders want to form a state based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as their capital. Trump met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the prospects for a final resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“I would love to be a mediator, or an arbitrator, or a facilitator, and we will get this done,” Trump said during a May 3 press conference with Abbas.
Meadows warned against changing U.S. policy regarding the wall, however. “McMaster’s remarks today regarding whether or not the Western Wall is part of Israel mark a concerning shift in the policy of this administration,” he said. “As one of Israel’s closest allies, the United States has an obligation to stand by them and defend their rightful claim to one of the holiest sites in the nation of Israel.”
