Solemn duty to remember Holocaust victims, says Donald Trump on memorial visit

Donald Trump has paid a short visit to Israel’s national Holocaust memorial, calling the Nazi extermination of six million Jews “the most savage crime against God and his children”.

The US president had come under criticism for planning just a brief half-hour stop at Yad Vashem, following a series of missteps by his administration on issues of concern to the Jewish American community — such as inadequately denouncing the anti-Semitic rhetoric of some of his supporters and appearing cavalier at times about the Holocaust.

But he pleased his hosts during the most sensitive stop on his two-day visit to Israel by taking a strong stand in expressing sympathy for Holocaust victims and support for the Jewish state.

In a solemn ceremony, Mr Trump rekindled the memorial’s eternal flame and laid a wreath in honour for the six million victims. A children’s choir sang and a cantor recited a special prayer for the dead.

In brief comments, Mr Trump called the Holocaust “history’s darkest hour”.

“Millions of wonderful and beautiful lives — men, women and children — were extinguished as part of a systematic attempt to eliminate the Jewish people,” he said.

“It is our solemn duty to remember, to mourn, to grieve and to honour every single life that was so cruelly and viciously taken.”

Earlier, on his fourth and final day in the Middle East, his motorcade crossed through the barrier surrounding biblical Bethlehem for a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, where he pressed for progress on the dormant peace process.

If Israel and the Palestinians can forge an agreement, it could “begin a process of peace all throughout the Middle East”, Mr Trump said.

Mr Abbas said he was keen to “keep the door open to dialogue with our Israeli neighbours”.

He reiterated the Palestinians’ demands, including establishing a capital in East Jerusalem, insisting that “our problem is not with the Jewish religion, it’s with the occupation and settlements, and with Israel not recognising the state of Palestine”.

Mr Trump’s visit to Jerusalem has been laden with religious symbolism. He toured the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which by Christian tradition is where Jesus was crucified and the location of his tomb.

Wearing a black skullcap, he became the first sitting president to visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City, the most holy site at which Jews can pray.

He was joined at the wall by his family, who separated by gender to pray. The president and Mr Kushner visited one side, while the first daughter and first lady visited a portion of the site reserved for women.

Mr Trump approached alone and placed his hand on the stone.

The visit raised questions about whether the US would indicate the site is Israeli territory. Washington has never recognised Israeli sovereignty over parts of the Old City seized in the 1967 war.

The White House struggled to answer the question. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley declared the site part of Israel, while secretary of state Rex Tillerson on Monday dodged the question. Mr Trump himself never commented.