In July, Palestinian terrorists armed with rifles left the al-Aqsa mosque compound and assassinated two Israeli police officers. Afterward, Israeli security forces installed metal detectors outside the Jerusalem mosque for protection. McMaster, however, didn’t see it that way. He viewed the security measures as “just another excuse by the Israelis to repress the Arabs,” a senior defense official tells CR.
A senior West Wing official explained McMaster’s anti-Israel posture further:
“In advance of the president’s trip to Israel, there was a lot of desire from within the Trump administration for [Israeli PM Benjamin] Netanyahu to join the president at the Western Wall. McMaster didn’t even want [Trump] to go to the Western Wall. He only wanted the president to visit the Holocaust Museum.”
A deal was ultimately cut, and the president visited the Western Wall — but without Netanyahu.
In May, while briefing reporters, McMaster infamously refused to recognize that the Western Wall (one of the holiest sites in Judaism) was part of Israel.
In May, while briefing reporters, McMaster infamously refused to recognize that the Western Wall (one of the holiest sites in Judaism) was part of Israel.
And this one is presumably on tape. Hard to call that “fake news”.