In major Israel speech, Trump calls for coalition against extremists, insists Israel and Palestinians ready for peace

(JTA) – President Donald Trump in the major address of his visit to Israel called for a coalition of nations to fight against extremism and insisted that both Israel and the Palestinians are ready for peace.

Trump was greeted Tuesday afternoon, May 23 by a small audience of Israeli lawmakers and guests at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem with an extended standing ovation, and his speech was punctuated by such applause.

“Conflict cannot continue forever,” Trump said. He called for a coalition of partners of the nations of the world “who share the aim of stamping out extremists.” Diverse nations can unite around such a goal, he said. Such a coalition, he said, “requires the world to recognize the vital role of the state of Israel.”

Trump praised the history of the Jewish people as “a story of faith and perseverance.” He added that Jews in Israel are free to do whatever they dream, and that “Muslims, Christians and people of all faiths are free to live and worship according to their conscience” in Israel as well.

“I call upon people to draw inspiration from this ancient city to set aside our sectarian differences to overcome oppression and hatred,” he also said.

Trump acknowledged that Israel and Jews are targeted in Israel and throughout the world by Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic State and Iran, who the president said “will not have nuclear weapons.”

“Iran calls for the destruction of Israel. Not with Donald J. Trump,” he said.

Trump asserted that both Israel and the Palestinians are ready to pursue a peace agreement and reiterated his “personal commitment” to helping them achieve that goal.

“I’m telling you, that’s what I do, that the Palestinians are ready to reach for peace,” Trump said, adding: “My friend Benjamin, he is ready for peace, he is reaching for peace,” referring to Netanyahu.

“Making peace will not be easy. But with determination, compromise and the belief that peace is possible, Israelis and Palestinians will reach a deal,” he said.

Trump called America’s security cooperation with Israel “bigger than ever,” and a difference from the Obama administration. “A big, big beautiful difference,” he said.

Trump departed Israel on Tuesday afternoon and headed for the Vatican.

Trump, at Yad Vashem, calls Israel a ‘soaring monument’ to ‘Never Again’

(JTA) – President Donald Trump called the State of Israel “a soaring monument to the solemn pledge we repeat and affirm: ‘Never again’” during a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.

Trump and his wife Melania laid a wreath in the Hall of Remembrance on Tuesday afternoon.

The president, wearing a black kippah, also was accompanied by his daughter Ivanka and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who are both Jews. Trump also lit a candle at the eternal flame in the hall.

Israel, Trump said, is “testament to the unbreakable spirit of the Jewish people.”

“The Jewish people persevered. They have thrived. They have become so successful in so many places, and they have enlightened the world,” he said.

He said that it is every person’s duty “to remember to mourn, to grieve, and to honor” each life lost in the Holocaust.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who with his wife Sara attended the ceremony, responded that the people of Israel “pledge never to be defenseless against that hatred again.” To achieve this, he said, “Israel must always be able to defend itself.” Netanyahu thanked Trump for the United States’ commitment to Israel’s security.

Trump was presented with a replica of a personal album that belonged to a German Holocaust victim, Ester Goldstein. While most of the Jews who contributed photographs and handwritten messages were killed in the Holocaust, Ester’s older sister, Margot Herschenbaum, 91, survived and briefly met the president.

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem.

In public statements, both leaders condemned the suicide bomb attack at a concert in Manchester hours earlier.

Trump, family make private visit to Western Wall

(JTA) – President Donald Trump visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to go to the holy site. Trump arrived there under heavy security Monday afternoon with his wife, Melania, daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner. No Israeli politicians or officials accompanied the family. U.S. officials reportedly had rejected a request by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit the site with Trump.

Trump was presented with a Book of Psalms with his name printed on it by the rabbi of the Western Wall, Shmuel Rabinowitz. The inscription printed inside read: “This ancient book will safeguard you so you can safeguard the entire world. With appreciation and admiration for being the first United States president to visit the Western Wall.”

Following a brief description of the history of the wall, Trump went to the men’s side, with his daughter and wife heading to the women’s section. Trump, who wore a black kippah, stood in front of the wall with his hand resting on it for several moments before placing a note in its cracks and backing away.

In the guest book, Trump wrote “This was a great honor – Peace!”

The Trump family walked to the wall from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of the holiest sites in Christianity, which they visited first, arriving there on foot from the Jaffa Gate.

White House uses ‘Jerusalem, Israel’ in live feed of Trump visit

(JTA) – The White House used the term “Jerusalem, Israel” in a live video feed of President Donald Trump’s visit to the city, a departure from the policies of past administrations. The caption appeared on the video feed of Monday’s news conference at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence. It came as Trump administration officials continue to differ over whether to describe the contested city as being part of Israel, and as Israeli officials urge the White House to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The Obama administration at least twice – in 2011 and then again last year – corrected photo captions and datelines that had read “Jerusalem, Israel” to “Jerusalem,” reflecting longstanding executive branch policy that the city should not be described as being in any country until there is a final status agreement. (Congress recognized the city as Israel’s capital in 1995.) The George W. Bush administration also routinely captioned photos and listed the city on schedules and in news releases as simply “Jerusalem.”

As a candidate, Trump pledged to move the embassy to Jerusalem, Israel’s capital, but since assuming the presidency he has retreated. His administration has delivered mixed messages on the topic. His ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, has said he would prefer to be based in Jerusalem, and his ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, has said she regards the city as being in Israel. His secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, and his national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, when asked by reporters ahead of and during this week’s presidential Middle East tour, have both declined to say the city is in Israel.

Trump earlier Monday also appeared to split the difference: He visited the Western Wall in the Old City – in the city’s eastern sector, captured by Israel in 1967 – accompanied by Israeli government officials, including the rabbi of the wall. However, he would not agree to allow Netanyahu to accompany him.

Jewish groups praise Trump’s call for Muslim nations to confront Islamist extremism

(JTA) – Jewish groups praised President Donald Trump for calling on Muslim nations to confront Islamist extremism during a speech to Muslim and Arab leaders at a summit in Saudi Arabia.

“Drive them out of your places of worship, drive them out of your communities, drive them out of your holy land and drive them out of this earth,” Trump said Sunday afternoon during a major speech to the Arabic Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. “Honestly confronting the crisis of Islamist extremism and the Islamist terror groups it inspires means standing together against the murder of innocent Muslims, the oppression of women, the persecution of Jews and the slaughter of Christians,” the president also said in what was billed as a major address to the Arab world.

David Harris, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, said that “President Trump’s refreshing honesty is welcome and needed in describing the Islamist extremist threat that developed in the Middle East years ago, and spread across the region and around the world. We agree that the fight against Islamist extremism is a battle between the forces of good and decency, on the one hand, and evil and a death cult, on the other, and that victory depends, above all, on what Arab and Muslim nations do to counter and defeat this violent, deadly scourge.”

“And he could not have been clearer in his description of Hezbollah and Hamas as the terrorist groups they most assuredly are,” Harris also said.

Trump in his speech called Hamas a terror group, leading to this response from the group that controls Gaza: “The depiction of Hamas as a terror organization by Trump makes clear the American bias on behalf of the occupation, and is aligned with the enemy’s policies.”

Zionist Organization of America President Morton Klein in a statement issued late Sunday called the speech “historic, important, courageous.” Klein said his organization was pleased that Trump strongly condemned Iran, that he condemned “ISIS, Hezbollah and Hamas and Iran in the same sentence – for they are all part of the same scourge of Islamist terror.”

“However, the president should have demanded that Muslim leaders and religious leaders should likewise condemn and delegitimize these terrorist groups by name. The president should have insisted that Muslim leaders end the use of the problematic textbooks throughout the Muslim world promoting Islamist extremism and violence and urge that they examine why terrorism emanates from some Muslim societies,” he said. “It was also disappointing that the president did not mention the refusal of much of the Muslim world to negotiate with and accept Israel as a Jewish state.”