Planning Said to Be Underway for Trump Visit to Israel in Late May as Jewish State Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Jerusalem Reunification
by Barney Breen-Portnoy
US President Donald Trump — joined by a number of other top officials in his administration — might visit the Jewish state next month, Israeli media outlets reported on Wednesday.
According to the reports, initial coordination talks regarding the trip have already begun and an American advance team is expected to arrive in Israel later this week.
Trump, who will mark his 100th day in office on Saturday, is set to make his first presidential trip abroad to attend a May 25 NATO summit in Belgium and a May 26-27 G7 summit in Italy.
According to the Hebrew news site nrg, a stop in Israel could be tacked on to the front end of that travel itinerary. The nrg report noted that May 23 is Jerusalem Day, when Israel will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the reunification of its capital city during the 1967 Six-Day War.
In a previous report published this past weekend, nrg said Trump, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley all planned to visit Israel in the coming months.
Former President Barack Obama did not travel to Israel during his first four years in the White House, but did make two trips there during his second term — an official three-day state visit in March 2013 and a one-day journey last September for the funeral of late Israeli statesman Shimon Peres.