Report: 'Trump refused to postpone his visit to Israel to the date of the anniversary of the Six-Day War'
The newspaper Al-Hayat reports that according to Western sources Trump refused an Israeli offer to postpone the visit to the region for June; according to those sources, the White House refused, in part because the timing was liable to harm the American position and appear as pro-Israel bias.
The same sources claimed that the Israeli side proposed to change the date of the visit, which is expected to take place on May 22, to the beginning of June, but the White House refused the proposal. They argued, among other things, that the timing could harm the American position because it places the United States in a very biased position alongside Israel.
They noted that another reason for the refusal was constraints related to his visit to Europe. According to them, Trump's visit to Europe to participate in the NATO summit and the G7 summit is the main agenda on his first diplomatic trip.
The same sources also said that his visit to Saudi Arabia and the preparations for this are another key issue, and that Trump is expected to meet in Riyadh with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The sources added that preparations for Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia have been underway for several months in high-level coordination between the parties.
Trump's first stop will be Saudi Arabia. From there, he will continue to Israel, and then fly to the Vatican, and meet Pope Francis on May 24 in Rome. Senior officials in the White House said that Trump's choice of Saudi Arabia as the first stop was meant to make a fresh start with the Muslim leadership "to join forces and fight extremist Muslims and terrorist organizations together."
Trump's objective during the visit is to start the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Trump will visit Bethlehem and is expected to meet with Mahmoud Abbas. According to White House officials, the goal of visiting Israel is to advance the peace process.
"We are optimistic and realistic," said one senior official. "The president intends to invest a lot of time and effort to promote peace. He has had good talks with leaders in the region."
(Translated and edited by N. Elias)
