US delegation coming back to Israel to finalize Trump itinerary
President set to arrive on May 22, accompanied by wife Melania, daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner
A US presidential delegation will return to Israel next week to finalize the itinerary of US President Donald Trump, who is due in Israel later this month.
The president is set to arrive on May 22 along with his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, and his senior advisers, daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner. He will leave the next day. He will have begun his first overseas trip as president in Saudi Arabia, and will later travel to the Vatican.
Trump has pledged to work for a comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, and there has been speculation that he will seek to convene a Middle East summit soon after this month’s trip. Israel’s Channel 2 said the administration has also expressed interest in a possible Israel-Jordan-Saudi Arabia train route, and in pushing a much-discussed Red Sea-Dead Sea canal project.
The delegation was in Israel this past week to scout out stops during the expected trip. The members of the preparatory team held meetings at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, visited the Western Wall, the southern city of Masada and the Allenby border crossing with Jordan.
Israel’s Channel 2 reported on Thursday that Trump wanted to deliver the main speech of his visit to Israel at the iconic desert fortress of Masada, but that has not been confirmed.
During the trip, Trump will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The US president is not expected in Ramallah but may visit Bethlehem.
A White House statement on Thursday said the visit to Israel was aimed at “further strengthen(ing) the United States-Israel partnership.”
“The leaders will discuss a range of regional issues, including the need to counter the threats posed by Iran and its proxies, and by ISIS and other terrorist groups. They will also discuss ways to advance a genuine and lasting peace between the Israelis and Palestinians,” the statement read.
Trump’s expected meeting with Abbas will address “ways to advance peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, as well as efforts to unlock the potential of the Palestinian economy.”
It will be their second meeting in a month, coming on the heels of Abbas’s visit to the White House this past Wednesday during which Trump expressed optimism in his ability to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
“We will get it done. We will be working so hard to get it done. It’s been a long time, but we will be working diligently, and I think there’s a very, very good chance,” Trump said during a joint press conference with Abbas.
The president, who has referred to a Mideast peace agreement as “the ultimate deal,” said he would be willing to play whatever role was needed to strike the coveted but elusive accord.
“My first foreign trip as president of the United States will be to Saudi Arabia, then Israel, and then to a place that my cardinals love very much, Rome,” Trump told reporters on Thursday.
Trump will add the three stops to an already announced visit to NATO and G7 summits in Brussels and Sicily later this month.
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In a press conference, Trump said he “will begin [the foreign trip] with a truly historic gathering in Saudi Arabia with leaders from all across the Muslim world,” and noted: “Saudi Arabia is the custodian of the two holiest sites in Islam.”
In markedly conciliatory language, he added: “It is there we will begin to construct a new foundation of cooperation and support with our Muslim allies to combat extremism, terrorism and violence and to embrace a more just and hopeful future for young Muslims in their countries.”
Pope Francis will receive Trump at the Vatican on May 24, the Holy See said.
The timing of Trump’s visit to Israel — coinciding with Jerusalem Day, when Israel will celebrate 50 years since the reunification of the city under its control after the 1967 Six Day War — has sparked speculation that he might use the trip make a major announcement regarding the city.
Over the course of his campaign, Trump repeatedly promised he would move the embassy, but since assuming office, he has seemingly stepped away from that pledge.
Vice President Mike Pence told American Jewish leaders on Tuesday that Trump was still deliberating on the relocation.
“The president of the United States, as we speak, is giving serious consideration into moving the American embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” he said.
Eric Cortellessa and Dov Lieber contributed to this report.
