U.S. President Donald Trump said there is hope for peace and stability in the Middle East on Monday when he was in Israel, as he made his second leg of his first trip since assuming office. Trump's first stop was Saudi Arabia where he signed a number of bilateral agreements.
President Trump met with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister, and Mahmoud Abbas the Palestinian President, in a stopover that lasted about 28 hours. He is also expected to pray at the Western Wall and to also visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem later on Monday.
He will be stopping briefly in Bethlehem on Tuesday.
A rosy reception
Trump and first lady Melania were welcomed by Netanyahu and his wife Sara alongside President Reuven Rivlin and members of the Israeli government, at the Ben-Gurion airport in Tel Aviv in a red carpet reception, which is said to be the first direct international flight from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to Tel Aviv, Israel.
Trump said he has found new reasons for hope in his recent travels. The President said this in a brief speech shortly after his arrival.
The peace deal
According to President Trump, there is a rare opportunity to usher in the desired security and stability and peace to the region and to its entire people. Fighting terrorism and defeating it will create a future of harmony, prosperity, and peace, but we can only achieve that by a uniting in strength, there is no alternative, he concluded.
President Trump’s trip comes amid uncertainty at home, where he is struggling to ease the tension created over a scandal that resulted in the sacking of former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey about two weeks ago. He will wrap up his foreign trip on Saturday after visiting the Vatican, Brussels and a brief stopover in Sicily.
Israel's Demand
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed Trump’s commitment to peace and stability in the region, but he also maintained his government’s political and security stance of the Palestinians, which includes declaring and ensuring them Israel, is recognized as a Jewish state.
The US President has promised to take all necessary steps to broker a peace deal between Israel and Palestine- he described it as “the ultimate deal”, though he did not give a hint of how he aim to resuscitate the collapsed negotiation of 2014.
According to a White House official, Trump will still hold on to his campaign promise to entirely relocate the embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, but that would not be announced during his official trip.
