President Donald Trump landed in Israel on a ground-breaking direct flight on Monday from Saudi Arabia, as he seeks to team up the Jewish state and Arab countries against a common foe — Iran — in a long-shot bid for peace in West Asia.
Iran’s support of extremist groups in the region is a threat both to Israel and Arab states along the Persian Gulf, Trump said in a meeting with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem. There’s a “growing realisation among your Arab neighbours that they have common cause with you in the threat posed by Iran,” Trump told Rivlin.
“The United States and Israel can declare with one voice that Iran must never be allowed to develop nuclear weapons,” Trump said. “Never, ever. And must cease its deadly funding, training and equipping of terrorists and militias.” Trump arrived in Israel to a considerably less gilded reception than in Riyadh, where he and his delegation were treated like celebrities as they signed multibillion-dollar defence and infrastructure agreements.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to order his cabinet ministers to attend a brief welcome ceremony at Ben Gurion International Airport and tried to shove one parliamentarian out of the way as he asked Trump for a selfie. From there, Trump was whisked by helicopter to Jerusalem to start a 28-hour visit heavy on symbolism and littered with political minefields.
“We have before us a rare opportunity to bring security and stability and peace to this region and to its people, defeating terrorism and creating a future of harmony, prosperity, and peace,” Trump said at the airport. Netanyahu said he hoped that “one day” an Israeli premier would be able to fly from Israel to the Saudi capital as Air Force One just had in the other direction.
Bloomberg