Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
There was no hand-holding for President Donald Trump and Melania Trump as the two walked the red carpet after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport on Monday.
Melania Trump appeared to swat away her husband’s hand as he reached for her, a moment captured by hundreds of cameras, and recreated as a viral meme on social media.
While People Magazine, Huffington Post and Buzzfeed debated whether it was the president swatting away the first lady, or vice versa, others surmised that the reach for her hand was because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sara Netanyahu were holding hands on the other side of the Trumps.
Later, when the Trumps moved on to the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, Melania was pictured holding hands with Nehama Rivlin, wife of Israeli President Reuven Rivlin wife, and then sitting closely with Sara Netanyahu, when the two visited Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital.
US First Lady Melania Trump (R) and Sara Netanyahu talk with children during a visit to the Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem on May 22, 2017. (AFP PHOTO / POOL / Sebastian Scheiner)
Nehama Rivlin held Melania’s hand as the entered the presidential residence, walking alongside her and talking genially with her. Mrs. Rivlin suffers from a lung disease which impairs her breathing, and requires her to use oxygen. On Monday, welcoming the Trumps at the airport, and again at the residence, she used a supply tucked inconspicuously at her side.
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First Lady Melania Trump and Nehama Rivlin at the president’s residence on Tuesday, May 22, 2017 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90)
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The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
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