Vice President Mike Pence visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City on Tuesday, marking his last major official engagement in the city on his trip to the Middle East.
Pence slipped a personal note into the wall, and then placed his right hand on it to pray for a few moments. When asked shortly after by reporters how it felt to visit the Western Wall, he replied, “very inspiring.”
There were no representatives of the Israeli government present. Instead, he was received by the Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich. Pence was accompanied by US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, among others.
Earlier Tuesday, the vice president visited Israel’s Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, where he laid a wreath in the Hall of Remembrance.
His first official engagement of the day saw him received at the residence of Israel’s President, Reuven Rivlin.
“You are a mensch,” Rivlin said of Pence.
In short remarks, Pence said President Donald Trump had sent him to Jerusalem “to reiterate our nation’s deep commitment to peace.” He said he had been moved by listening to what Jerusalem means to followers of the three main religions there.
Pence’s trip to Israel comes a month after Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the country and move the US embassy there.
