Israelis are pleased after President Donald Trump’s visit to the Holy Land, but Palestinians are disappointed.
In a country where symbolism is so important, Trump made a number of important gestures that left Israelis elated, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Thank you, President Trump for your steadfast friendship to the Jewish people and the Jewish state," said Netanyahu. "It is deeply, deeply appreciated.”
Trump became the first sitting president to visit the Western Wall, the last remnant of the biblical Temple and Judaism’s holiest site. Other presidents have stayed away because the United States does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem’s disputed Old City, which the Palestinians claim as the capital of their future state.
Trump also visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and embraced the Israeli ethos, saying that a mighty nation has emerged from the depths of Jewish suffering.
Former Israeli ambassador to the Uniyed States Zalman Shoval says Trump’s stop at the Western Wall sends a powerful message to the Palestinians, who deny Jewish biblical and historical ties to Jerusalem.
“By going there, he is the president, which shows very, very clearly his respect and acknowledgement for the connection of the Jewish people with its land and with its capital, which goes beyond diplomatic pronouncements," said Shoval.
While Trump heaped praise on Israel during the 28-hour visit, he only spent one hour in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The American leader said the time is ripe for peace, but did not propose a specific plan to achieve it.
There was no mention of key Palestinian grievances and aspirations, namely, the expansion of Jewish settlements and the creation of a Palestinian state.
A Palestinian student in the West Bank, Iman Haddad, said Trump’s visit was a disappointment.
“From my opinion it was a general [i.e., ordinary] visit for the American president," said Haddad. "I did not see anything new in his speech about the settlements, about the [Israeli] siege, about the checkpoints. And at the end, it is nothing new.”
But both sides want to give the new U.S. administration a chance.
Trump said that with determination and compromise he believes the parties can make a peace deal. As a first step, U.S. negotiators are trying to goad reluctant Israeli and Palestinian leaders back to the negotiating table; and they might succeed, because neither side wants to say “no” to the president.
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