Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) firmly urged the Trump Administration not to waffle in acknowledging the Western Wall as part of Israel in a statement issued on Tuesday.
In the e-mail statement, DeSantis said:
The Western Wall is one of the holiest sites in Judaism and there is no reason to be waffling about whether it is properly considered to be a part of Israel. Jerusalem is the eternal and indivisible capital of the Jewish people and of the modern State of Israel. Indeed, soon Israelis will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Jerusalem during the defensive Six Day War. Let’s stand with our strong friend and ally and not kowtow to those who seek to do Israel harm.
DeSantis serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security for the House Oversight Committee.
On Monday the Times of Israel reported that a senior member of the U.S. delegation making preparations for President Trump’s upcoming visit to Israel argued that the Western Wall was, “not your territory. It’s part of the West Bank.”
On Tuesday, the U.S. official was identified as a career officer who was serving in Israel since the Obama administration.
Breitbart Jerusalem reported:
Tuesday, Israel’s Channel 2 identified the individual allegedly involved in the confrontation as David Berns, the political counselor at the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem.
According to the television report, Berns was joined by embassy economic adviser Jonathan Shrier, who also was allegedly involved in the episode.
Berns is a career officer at the State Department who has been working at the U.S. Consulate since August 2015. In other words, he received his position there during the Obama administration. According to his LinkedIn profile, Berns served from January 2002 until present as a foreign service officer with the State Department.
Shrier is also a career officer, who arrived at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv in August 2015 – during the Obama administration – as the counselor for Economic Affairs.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer responded during a Tuesday afternoon press gaggle to a question about the White House position on the Western Wall.
Spicer told reporters:
The Western Wall is obviously one of the holiest sites in Jewish faith. It’s clearly in Jerusalem. But there’s been — it’s an issues that’s had serious consideration. It will be a topic that’s going to be discussed during the President’s trip between the parties that he meets with.
But obviously I think this stems from a comment that was made yesterday and which was not the policy of the United States. And so I think just because — so just to be clear about what was said yesterday.
In early March DeSantis told Breitbart News that he believed President Trump would move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem by the end of May. DeSantis was on a fact-find tour at the time with a small delegation looking at making the embassy’s move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Moving the embassy is required under U.S. law but was several times delayed by then-U.S. President Barack Obama. The last waiver Obama signed expires at the end of May, DeSantis told Breitbart, “And I think president Trump has proven that he is a man of his word. I do not think he is going to sign a waiver for the Embassy.” He said that they had found a potential location in the course of the trip.
DeSantis further rejected threats from the Palestinian authority in his comments to Breitbart’s Aaron Klein. He said, “ultimately in the Arab world they have a different psychology than in the Western World. They respect strength. And they respect a strong horse. So, if you cower in the face of these threats to me you will end up losing respect not only from Palestinian Arabs, but also from some of the Arab states in the Gulf.”
Trump leaves for a trip on Friday that will include a May 22-23 visit to Israel. The President’s first stop on the trip is Saudi Arabia, which will be directly followed by the visit to Israel and then to the Vatican, Brussels, Belgium and Sicily, Italy.
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