Israel has released an official schedule for Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, scheduled to land in Israel Sunday night for a four-day visit.
The relatively sparse schedule includes a lunch meeting with Netanyahu and visit to Yad Vashem Monday afternoon and a short meeting with President Reuven Rivlin and watching an emergency response demonstration on Tuesday.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte jokes to photographers as he holds an Israeli-made Galil rifle which was presented to him by outgoing Philippine National Police Chief Director General Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa, left, at the turnover-of-command ceremony on April 19, 2018, at Camp Crame in suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
On Wednesday afternoon, Duterte, who once compared himself to Hitler, will dedicate a Holocaust memorial in Rishon Lezion’s memorial park before taking off.
Duterte has since apologized to the Jewish community over his Hitler remarks and his government has pointed out the Philippines gave refuge to around 1,300 Jews fleeing the Holocaust.
The president, who will be the first Filipino head of state to ever visit Israel, recently denied media reports that he was going on the trip for medical reasons, saying he would be checking on guest workers given tensions over possible war in the region.
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