US President Donald Trump paid a visit to Israel's Holocaust memorial center Yad Vashem on Tuesday and called the State of Israel “a soaring monument to the solemn pledge we repeat and affirm ’Never again'." He said the Shoah had been "the most savage crime ever."
Trump and his wife Melania laid a wreath in the Hall of Remembrance. The president, wearing a black kippah, also was accompanied by his daughter Ivanka and his son-in-law Jared Kushner. Trump also lit a candle at the eternal flame in the hall.
Israel, Trump said, was “testament to the unbreakable spirit of the Jewish people.” He added: "The Jewish people persevered. They have thrived. They have become so successful in so many places, and they have enlightened the world."
He said that it was every person’s duty “to remember to mourn, to grieve, and to honor” each life lost in the Holocaust.
Trump was presented with a replica of a personal album that belonged to a German Holocaust victim, Ester Goldstein. While most of the Jews who contributed photographs and handwritten messages were killed in the Holocaust, Ester’s older sister, Margot Herschenbaum, 91, survived and briefly spoke with the president.
On Monday, shortly after landing at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Trump had visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem, becoming the first sitting US president in history to visit the site.
Abbas, Trump meet in Bethlehem
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Both men condemned the suicide bomb attack at a concert in Manchester hours earlier.
“Peace can never take root in an environment where violence is tolerated, funded and even rewarded,” Trump also said, an apparent reference to Palestinian payments to the families of terrorists.
He also called for zero tolerance for terror. “We must be resolute in condemning such acts in a single unified voice."
Trump spoke of achieving a peace deal, saying: “I am committed to trying to achieve a peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and I intend to do everything I can to help them achieve that goal. President Abbas assures me he is ready to work toward that goal in good faith, and Prime Minister Netanyahu has promised the same. I look forward to working with these leaders toward a lasting peace.”
In his remarks, Abbas said that he had no problem with Judaism. The Palestinians’ “fundamental problem is with occupation and settlements and the failure of Israel to recognize the state of Palestine as we recognize it," said Abbas.
