Trump didn’t address Knesset because MKs couldn’t be trusted to behave

Speaker of parliament says Israel was unable to guarantee US president would make it through his speech without disruptions

By Jacob Magid 23 May 2017, 7:16 pm 1 Edit

Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein addresses the opening ceremony for Israel's 69th Independence Day, at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl military cemetery, on Monday, May 1, 2017 (Yitzhak Harari/Knesset press office)

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein revealed Tuesday that US President Donald Trump wanted to give the major address of his Israel visit at the Knesset, but Israel couldn’t guarantee that lawmakers would behave.

“The Knesset was the first preference for the location of Trump’s speech,” Edelstein said. “It was only because of five, six or seven Knesset members for whom 25 seconds of fame would be more important to them than the honor of the Knesset,” Edelstein told parliament.

The Knesset plenum was largely empty Tuesday due to Trump’s visit, with only a few MKs present to hear Edelstein’s words.

Edelstein did not specify who the problem lawmakers were, but regular Knesset sessions are routinely peppered with heckling from all sides of the political spectrum.

Trump instead spoke at the Israel Museum to a selected audience.

US President Donald Trump delivers a speech at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem on May 23, 2017. (AFP Photo/Menahem Kahana)

Other than the Knesset, the historic Masada desert fortress was also reported to have been a desired location for Trump’s speech on Tuesday.

According to a Friday Channel 2 report, Trump canceled a visit and speech scheduled there after the Israel Air Force informed him he would not be allowed to land his helicopter at the UNESCO-listed archaeological site and would have to use the cable car.