On second day of visit, Trump to go to PA, give key Israel address
US president's final hours in the Holy Land will see him meeting Abbas, paying his respects at a brief visit to Yad Vashem
After the dizzying first half of his highly anticipated 28-hour Israel visit, US President Donald Trump headed back to the King David Hotel in Jerusalem Monday night to rest ahead of Tuesday’s busy schedule.
That includes a visit to the West Bank to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and a major address to the Israeli people.
Trump will head to Bethlehem at 10 a.m. for his meeting with Abbas.
Contrary to earlier reports, he is not expected to visit the Church of the Nativity in the city.
The Israeli part of his visit then resumes with a 30-minute stop at the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum, where he will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony.
At 1.30 p.m. Trump will head to the Israel Museum, located across the street from the Knesset, for an address billed as the main speech of his Israel trip.
Planners originally wanted the speech to take place at the Masada desert fortress in the Judean desert, but that idea reportedly fell though when it was made clear that the presidential helicopter would not be allowed to land atop the UNESCO-listed heritage site, and he’d have had to use the cable car.
Trump will then return to Ben Gurion Airport and lift off for the Italy and The Vatican leg of his trip, at 3:40 p.m.
Road closures will continue on the second day of his visit.
From 8:30 a.m., key streets will be intermittently blocked: King David, Azza, Herzog, Hebron Road, Bethlehem Road northbound, Herzl Boulevard and the access road to Yad Vashem, among others.
The public was advised to use alternate routes via streets such as Agron, Ramban, Haim Barlev, parts of Keren Hayesod, Emek Refaim, and the Begin highway.
Between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. there will be disruptions in light rail service, including intermittent disruptions between the Heil Ha’avir station (in Pisgat Ze’ev) and the Kikar Denia station in the Beit Hakerem neighborhood. The Yefe Nof and Mount Herzl stations will be intermittently shuttered.
Full light rail service will resume with the conclusion of Trump’s visit to Yad Vashem.