British Home Secretary Sajid Javid visits the Western Wall

The trip by the Home Secretary comes 19 years after the last British government minister to visit Jerusalem and the Western Wall.

By ALEX WINSTON
Director General of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, Mordechai Eliav [L] with British Home Secretary Sajid Javid [C] and Chief Rabbi of the Western Wall and the Holy Sites of Israel, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz [R] at the Western Wall, July 1 2019 (photo credit: THE WESTERN WALL HERITAGE FOUNDATION)
Director General of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, Mordechai Eliav [L] with British Home Secretary Sajid Javid [C] and Chief Rabbi of the Western Wall and the Holy Sites of Israel, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz [R] at the Western Wall, July 1 2019
(photo credit: THE WESTERN WALL HERITAGE FOUNDATION)
Sajid Javid, British Home Secretary, visited the Western Wall on Monday morning during his latest visit to Israel.
The trip by the Home Secretary comes 19 years after the last British government minister visited Jerusalem and the Western Wall.
Javid met with Director General of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, Mordechai Eliav, who told Javid about the history of the place and its importance as the center of Jewish longing for Jerusalem throughout the generations.
Javid, who comes from a Muslim family, said that his father believed in the connection between Jews and Muslims, and that his brother visited the Western Wall here as a child, inspiring Javid to visit. He also spent his honeymoon in Israel.
The Home Secretary is known as one of the staunchest supporters of Israel in the UK Conservative Party.
The minister added that one can sense the spiritual power in the place, and that he is impressed by the fact that the Western Wall is open 24 hours a day throughout the year.
British Home Secretary Sajid Javid stands at the Western Wall alongside Chief Rabbi of the Western Wall, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, July 1 2019
British Home Secretary Sajid Javid stands at the Western Wall alongside Chief Rabbi of the Western Wall, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, July 1 2019
Chief Rabbi of the Western Wall and the Holy Sites of Israel, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, received the minister and read with him from the Book of Psalms, before Javid placed a note between the stones of the Western Wall as in traditional in visiting the holy site.
Rabbi Rabinowitz told Javid that "Your visit here is evidence that in this small place Jews and Muslims can live together without harming each other".
The minister concluded his visit by saying,  “We love Jewish heritage very much and appreciate it.”