Netanyahu and wife Sara visit Western Wall to mark election win

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, visited the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem on Sunday evening to mark his return to power after his new government was sworn in last week.

The couple was accompanied by Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch and Mordechai Soli Eliav, chairman of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation.

The Western Wall is a remnant of the Jewish Second Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. It is considered one of the holiest places in the world for Jews and is an icon of Jewish heritage and history.

Writing in the Western Wall visitors’ book, Netanyahu quoted from Psalm 121, “He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep,” followed by “For the sake of Zion, I will not be silent,” taken from Isaiah 62.

“This sums up the two ongoing actions that I took upon myself,” he said in a short statement.

Netanyahu said he will continue to strive “for the sake of the citizens of Israel, the State of Israel and the Land of Israel.”

“I come here, to our source, to touch the stones of the Western Wall, and to remember that we have a duty to preserve the legacy of [past] generations and to secure our future for coming generations as well,” he added.

The prime minister placed a prayer note between the massive stones of the wall, a time-honored tradition.

Netanyahu led a bloc of far-right and religious parties to victory in November 1 elections and his new government was sworn in last Thursday.

The veteran Likud party leader made a similar visit to the Western Wall in 2015 after the last time he won an election outright.