First-Ever Visit by French President at Western Wall
23 January, 2020 |
4 years ago
Jerusalem, 23 January, 2020 (TPS) -- French President Emanuel Macron made history on Wednesday evening when he became the first French president to visit the Kotel, Western Wall.
“I feel the sacredness and the history here,” he stated, as he received an explanation from the director of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation Mordechai Eliav about the history of the holy site, met with a few soldiers from France, and prayed at the Western Wall.
Macron was one of several heads of state in Jerusalem who visited the Western Wall.
Iceland’s President Guðni Jóhannesson, Bosnia and Herzegovina President Željko Komšić, and Georgia President Salome Zourabichvili, who prayed at the Western Wall, visited the Kotel.
These visits took place as part of the visit of 45 global leaders to attend the Fifth Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Chief Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Places Rabbi Samuel Rabinovich, who greeted Macron, thanked him for his visit to the Western Wall, noting that it was a display of appreciation of the history and heritage of the Jewish people, which France is part of.
He explained the power of the place to every Jew around the world, as all synagogues around the world direct their prayers towards Jerusalem and the Western Wall.
