Abbas adviser says Trump visit could reopen path to talks

President Donald Trump got an abrupt Israeli welcome on his arrival in Tel Aviv on Monday, with politicians lobbying him and snapping selfies as they sought to get a piece of the commander in chief’s attention.

However, it seems Hazan – no stranger to deliberate publicity grabs and controversies – and Trump share a deep connection with each other.

The leaders are expected to discuss resuming long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Because of the moral clarity of both Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump Israel has a historic peace opportunity.

“I am truly hopeful that America can help Israel and the Palestinians forge peace and bring new hope the region and its people”, Trump said at a joint press conference with Abbas on Tuesday.

Pointing at Iran – Israel and Saudi Arabia’s main foe in the region – the US President accused Tehran of fuelling the fires of sectarian conflict and terror.

Donald Trump was forced into taking an awkward selfie with one of Israel’s most controversial politicians as he touched down in Tel Aviv.

The wall is part of a project begun in 2002 during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, that is to extend some 700km once completed.

In both the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinians held angry protests against the United States president’s visit.

On Sunday, Israel authorised some economic concessions to the Palestinians that it said would improve civilian life in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority, and were meant to respond to Mr Trump’s request for “confidence-building steps”.

“I want you to know how much we appreciate your bold decision to act against the use of chemical weapons in Syria and I want to tell you also how much we appreciate the reassertion of American leadership in the Middle East”.

He said he hoped his meeting with Mr Abbas, in Bethlehem, could be “useful and fruitful”.

Clashes broke out not far from the tent between Palestinian security forces and the young Palestinian protesters showing their support for the prisoners on hunger strike. The president has also decided not to immediately move the United States embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a White House official said this month.

At an event with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, Trump responded to a question about his sharing of classified intelligence with Russian officials during a May 10 meeting at the White House. During the campaign, Trump pledged to move the embassy to Jerusalem, but has since walked back that promise.

But decades of Israeli settlement building in the West Bank has made a two-state solution virtually untenable. Nearby, first lady Melania Trump and the first daughter, Ivanka, visited the women’s area of the wall, one of Judaism’s most sacred sites.

“They’re all saying I did”, he said, pointing to reporters.

He was not accompanied by any Israeli leaders. We shall continue to do so, together. The Israeli government has considered the wall under its jurisdiction since it captured the Old City during the Six Day War in 1967.

It later annexed east Jerusalem and claims the entire city as its capital.

“The focus is on how upsetting it’d be to Palestinians if the United States recognized Jerusalem as the Jewish capital”, Oren said.

Trump also held out the hope that a deal between Israel and the Palestinians would be possible.