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Trump Urges Supporters in Israel to Rally Near al-Aqsa | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Palestinians walk past the Dome of Rock at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound before the Friday prayer in Jerusalem’s Old City on October 14, 2016.
AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP


Tel Aviv-U.S. Republican candidate Donald Trump has called on his supporters in Israel to attend a rally that is set to take place next week near Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to protest a UNESCO resolution that condemns Israel’s actions at the flashpoint holy site.

The invitation for the protest was made on Friday by the Trump campaign’s office in Tel Aviv. It said Trump and Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Mike Pence will address the crowds via video link to express their support for Jerusalem.

The event will likely be held under the slogan of “We Back Jerusalem” in the old city two weeks before the U.S. presidential elections.

According to the office of Trump’s campaign, the rally is aimed at sending a message that the Republican Party stands by a unified Jerusalem and rejects political interference in its historical identity and the religious ties of Jews to it.

Trump, whose candidacy was first not very welcomed in Israel, is now backed by the political right.

Israel Today newspaper openly backs him. The daily promotes the views of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is financed by Jewish American Businessman Sheldon Adelson.

The Republican candidate is trying to take advantage of the close relationship between Netanyahu and Adelson to win the votes of Jewish Americans in the U.S. and Israel.

Trump has set up eight electoral offices in Israel, including two in the settlements of the West Bank.

The candidate had lashed out at UNESCO’s resolution that erases the Jewish connection to Jerusalem and its holy sites.

“Jerusalem is the enduring capital of the Jewish People and the overwhelming majority of Congress has voted to recognize Jerusalem as just that,” he said in a statement published on Facebook last week.

“United Nations’ attempt to disconnect the State of Israel from Jerusalem is a one-sided attempt to ignore Israel’s 3,000-year bond to its capital city, and is further evidence of the enormous anti-Israel bias of the U.N.,” he added.