(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara, today (Tuesday, 23 May 2017), accompanied US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania on their visit to Yad Vashem.

 

Prime Minister Netanyahu:

 

"What an incredibly moving speech that in so few words said so much. Thank you, Mr. President. This adds to a historic visit. You are the first American president who chose to include Israel on his first foreign trip. You’re the first president in office to visit the Western Wall. We were so deeply moved to see that picture of you touching the stones of the wall. And may I say, we were deeply moved to see First Lady Melania Trump touching the stones of that wall. And equally moved when we saw your daughter, Ivanka, and your son-in-law Jared do the same. Now you touch other stones.

 

You honor today the memory of six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust. A few weeks ago, you gave a powerful speech in the Holocaust Memorial Day in Washington, DC, and today in this solemn place, in Yad Vashem, our great monument of remembrance, we remember the Holocaust. We remember the hatred towards Jews that consumed a defenseless people. We pledge never to be defenseless against that hatred again. And to fulfill that pledge, Israel must always be able to defend itself by itself against any threat.

 

I appreciate America’s longstanding commitment to that principle, and Mr. President, I appreciate your commitment to that principle, your commitment to the security of the one and only Jewish state, which is entrusted with securing the Jewish future. You said, Mr. President, just now, that we must confront evil in the world, we must confront the barbarians. They are sadly still with us.

 

I want to say something about the bloody horror in Manchester last night. The slaughter of innocents must be unconditionally condemned and unflinchingly confronted no matter where it occurs – in Manchester, San Bernardino or Jerusalem: Terror is terror is terror. We must all unite to defeat it.

 

Mr. President, today you called the terrorists losers. I know you agree with me that it’s our job to make sure that they continue to lose. We will defeat them.

 

Thank you. Thank you to First Lady Melania Trump. Thank you for taking such a strong stand for Israel and the Jewish people. It comes from the heart of all of us. Thank you, Mr. President."