US President Donald Trump is expected to have an entourage 1,000 strong when he visits Israel, Yedioth Ahronoth has reported. Trump’s first overseas trip as president will take place later this month, when he will go to Saudi Arabia before heading for Israel. Unlike his predecessor, he will not go to Egypt.
According to the Hebrew-language newspaper, Trump will visit the Holocaust Museum — an obligatory stop for all visiting politicians —and the ancient fortress of Masada, where first-century Zealots committed mass suicide rather than surrender to Roman forces. The Israeli police are preparing for the visit by mobilising thousands of police officers to secure the sites on the president’s schedule.
Haaretz reported an official Israeli source as saying that Trump will also visit Bethlehem and meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He will go to the Church of the Nativity while he is in the historic city.
Trump’s visit to Israel is scheduled to take place on the 50th anniversary of the “Reunification of Jerusalem” during the June 1967 war. The end of May also signifies the expiration of the executive order issued by ex-President Barack Obama to freeze the transfer of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.