Duo at top of Republican ticket to appear via satellite at gathering near Temple Mount that will highlight unity of the city
Donald Trump and Mike Pence will make satellite video addresses at a Republican Party rally in Jerusalem next week that will stress the unity of the city, Republicans Overseas Israel announced Wednesday.
Several hundred people are expected to attend the October 26 rally, which will be held at an unspecified location near the Temple Mount under the headline of “strengthening Jerusalem,” the organizers said.
The group’s statement to announce the rally highlights this week’s approval of a controversial UNESCO resolution that effectively denies historic Jewish and Christian ties to the holy sites in Jerusalem.
The rally intends to send a message that the Republican Party “is united behind need to safeguard the unity of Jerusalem, and to prevent any political interference regarding the historic identity of the city,” the statement said.
The UNESCO resolution, formally approved on Tuesday, refers to the Temple Mount and Western Wall only by their Arabic names, condemns Israel as “the occupying power,” and ignores Jewish and Christian ties to the Old City and its holy sites.
Trump and Pence will address the gathering by video, the statement said, adding that leading Israeli and US Republican political figures had been invited to attend.
Both Trump and his rival Hillary Clinton condemned the UNESCO resolution.
The Republican branded the initial vote last week a “one-sided attempt to ignore Israel’s 3,000-year bond to its capital city” and “further evidence of the enormous anti-Israel bias” at the United Nations. The Clinton campaign, meanwhile, slammed the motion as “outrageous”and pledged that, as president, the candidate would “defend Israel against biased resolutions like these.”
As reported by The Times of Israel