‘You have made history’: Netanyahu hails Trump at Jerusalem embassy opening
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday praised Donald Trump for “making history by recognizing history” at a ceremony dedicating the new US embassy in Jerusalem, while President Reuven Rivlin thanked the US president for “keeping his promise.”
“What a glorious day,” Netanyahu told the crowd at the new embassy building in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Arnona. “Remember this moment, this is history. President Trump, by recognizing history, you have made history.”
“Today, the embassy of the most powerful country on earth, our friend and ally, the United States of America, opens in Jerusalem,” he exclaimed.
ome 800 guests attended the embassy dedication. Representing the US at the opening were US Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, the president’s daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump, and Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt. US Ambassador David Friedman was presiding over the dedication ceremony.
“We have no better friends in the world,” Netanyahu told the American guests.
Addressing Kushner and Ivanka Trump, he said, “Your presence here today is a testament to the importance of this occasion,” and thanked them for their “pursuit of peace.”
“In Jerusalem, King David established Jerusalem as a capital 3,000 years ago,” Netanyahue continued. “King Solomon later built the Temple, and over 2,000 years later, we got to hear the sentence ‘The Temple Mount is in our hands.’ We are here in Jerusalem, and we are here to stay.
“We are here to celebrate another historic moment in the history of this city,” he said, comparing the relocation of the embassy to the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
Read More: Times of Israel