U.S. President Donald Trump is slated to visit Israel May 22-23, according to an announcement Thursday afternoon (May 4) by the White House. JewishPress.com was the first English-language news outlet to report the president’s plans to visit Israel.
This will be the president’s first foreign trip since entering the White House with Israel the second stop, sandwiched in between Riyadh and Rome. His visit to Israel falls on the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Israel’s eternal capital city, Jerusalem (May 23 this year due to the various changes in the Hebrew calendar,) a date not believed to be a coincidence.
@POTUS headed to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Palestinian Territories and then to Europe later this month. Is/Pal peace important part of agenda. pic.twitter.com/K55UFjDh0D
— Jason D. Greenblatt (@jdgreenblatt45) May 4, 2017
The president has also accepted an invitation to meet with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, but according to a report by Israel’s Channel 2 television news, he is not expected to go to Ramallah. Trump may decide instead to visit Bethlehem.