Trump in Israel says there is 'rare opportunity' for Mideast peace
US president get warm welcome upon arriving in the Holy Land.
By GIL HOFFMANUpdated: MAY 22, 2017 15:26There is a 'rare opportunity' for peace in the Middle East - Trump
US President Donald Trump reaffirmed his commitment to Israel and vowed to make an effort to solve the Middle East conflict upon arriving Monday at Ben-Gurion International Airport.Trump was welcomed by President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and nearly every cabinet minister."During my travels, I have found new reasons for hope," Trump said. "There is a rare opportunity to bring security and peace to the region, but we can only get there by working together."Netanyahu praised Trump for being the first US president to visit Israel on his first trip abroad and extended his hand to Trump's peacemaking effort.(Reuters)"Thank you for this powerful expression of your friendship with Israel," Netanyahu said. "We seek a durable peace in which the Jewish state is recognized, security remains in Israel's hands and the conflict ends once and for all."Rivlin said that the world, the Middle East and Israel need a strong United States and the US needs a strong Israel. He called Jerusalem the beating heart of Israel.Following the ceremony, Trump shook hands with the ministers who waited reluctantly for his arrival under Netanyahu's orders."To bring us here for four hours to be a backdrop when we could be working is ugly," Culture Minister Miri Regev said ahead of the event."It doesn't show respect for the government of Israel or president Trump."White House senior advisor Jared Kushner (C) and Ivanka Trump (2R), the daughter of US President take part in a welcome ceremony upon the US Presidents arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on May 22, 2017, as part of his first trip overseas (MANDEL NGAN/AFP)
Education Minister Naftali Bennett used his brief moment with Trump to relay his hope that American leader will be the first US president who recognizes a united Jerusalem.Opposition leader Isaac Herzog, who will not be meeting with Trump on this trip, told him he offered Netanyahu a parliamentary safety net to make peace.The prime minister's wife Sara was overheard on camera telling the Trumps that they both had in common that "the press hates us and the public loves us."