In first, US celebrates 4th July in Jerusalem

For the first time, members of the US Congress travelled to Jerusalem to celebrate American Independence Day in the Israeli capital of Jerusalem.

A special event was held near the Jerusalem Embassy where a bipartisan group of US politicians joined with US Ambassador David Freidman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with other Israeli politicians.

You can watch the full ceremony in the video below (starts at 2hrs 54 minutes):

Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke at the event, saying:

“A few days ago, David and Tammy and Jason Greenblatt and my wife Sara went to a place that is the wellspring of our existence. They went to a place that leads from the Siloam pool to Har Habayit [the Temple Mount] where our ancestors celebrated the various festivals of Jerusalem and where the last Jews fighting the Romans, fighting this greatest power on earth, submitted and where Jewish independence was extinguished.

Well we’re back, and we’re back standing for the truth, for our history, for our rights and it’s wonderful to have the greatest power on earth not opposing the Jewish state but supporting the Jewish state. What a twist.”

“I also want to thank the government of Bahrain. I want to thank them for hosting an economic workshop in Bahrain last week in order to advance peace and prosperity. The foreign minister of Bahrain said Israel is part of the Middle East. ‘I want the people of Israel, the citizens of Israel, to know that we welcome them.’ That’s a change that should be applauded.

It was encouraging to see numerous Arab governments participate in the workshop, despite Palestinian efforts to undermine it.

The worst thing you can do in a speech is repeat a cliché. I’m going to repeat a cliché. The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. They just did another one. Again the Palestinian leadership held the prosperity of their own people hostage to their ideology against Israel.

I hope the Palestinian leadership chooses a different course. I hope that instead of rejecting President Trump’s peace initiative, even before they’ve seen it, they should keep an open mind about it. That’s certainly what I’m going to do. I look forward to work with President Trump and his administration to advance peace, prosperity and security. Security comes first but peace and prosperity can come too if there’s a willingness finally on the Palestinian side to abandon the goal of destroying Israel and once and for all to recognize the Jewish state. That’s the problem and that’s the solution.”

It is wonderful to see the relationship between Israel and the US growing stronger under President Trump.

The politicians also had some fun with the event this year.

The Prime Minister’s office released a special video showing the friendship between the two countries. The video was made to look like one of Facebook’s videos to celebrate a relationship.

Hey America, here's to our friendship! 🇮🇱🇺🇸
***
יום עצמאות שמח, ארצות הברית! @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/vP2vTDurik

— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) July 4, 2019

Ambassador Freidman also showed his lighter side when the US embassy produced a video advertising the 4th July event.

At the end of the video, you can watch the outtakes from the shoot with chuckles from the Ambassador and his wife as he repeatedly fumbles his lines.

Related Articles: