President Trump lays a wreath at Yad Vashem

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President Trump and his wife Melania visit Yad Vashem in Jerusalem where they laid a wreath in memory of the 6,000,000 who died during the Holocaust.

Time to remember Photo: Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO)

After laying the wreath, the President of Unites States said:

Prime Minister Netanyahu, Sara Netanyahu, Chairman Avner Shalev, and Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, thank you for hosting us for this moving wreath laying ceremony. We are here at Yad Vashem to honour the memory of six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.

Two-thirds of the Jews of Europe were sent to their deaths. Words can never describe the bottomless depths of that evil, or the scope of the anguish and destruction.

It was history’s darkest hour. Millions of innocent, wonderful and beautiful lives – men, women and children – were extinguished as part of a systematic attempt to eliminate the Jewish people.

It was the most savage crime against God and His children, and it is our solemn duty to remember, to mourn, to grieve and to honor every single life that was so cruelly and viciously taken.

As Elie Wiesel said, “For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.” These words should be carved into the conscience of humanity forever. Only when we remember the families who were torn apart from everyone they loved, who suffered that terrible darkness and evil, who had endured the unbearable horror of the Holocaust, only then can we prevent this agony from ever repeating.
This place and this entire nation are a testament to the unbreakable spirit of the Jewish people and the hope that light can shine the path beyond the darkness. Through persecution, oppression, death and destruction the Jewish people have persevered, they have thrived, they have become so successful in so many places, and they have enlightened the world.

The State of Israel is a strong and soaring monument to the solemn pledge we repeat and affirm, ‘Never Again’. From the depths of the suffering, the Jewish people have built a mighty nation and the Star of David waves proudly above this cherished land.

As long as we refuse to be silent in the face of evil, as long as we refuse to dim the light of truth in the midst of darkness, as long as we refuse to become bystanders to barbarity then we know that goodness, peace and justice will ultimately prevail.

With sadness for the lives and dreams that were stolen from this Earth, with determination to always keep the memories of the victims alive, and with resolve to confront evil wherever it threatens, we ask God to give us the strength, wisdom and courage to chart the righteous path.

Thank you. God bless the memory of the perished, God bless the survivors, God bless the Jewish People, and God bless the State of Israel.”

Laying the wreath Photo: Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded: “”What an incredibly moving speech that in so few words said so much. Thank you, Mr. President. This adds to a historic visit. You are the first American president who chose to include Israel on his first foreign trip. You’re the first president in office to visit the Western Wall. We were so deeply moved to see that picture of you touching the stones of the wall. And may I say, we were deeply moved to see First Lady Melania Trump touching the stones of that wall. And equally moved when we saw your daughter, Ivanka, and your son-in-law Jared do the same. Now you touch other stones.

You honour today the memory of six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust. A few weeks ago, you gave a powerful speech in the Holocaust Memorial Day in Washington, DC, and today in this solemn place, in Yad Vashem, our great monument of remembrance, we remember the Holocaust. We remember the hatred towards Jews that consumed a defenceless people. We pledge never to be defenceless against that hatred again. And to fulfil that pledge, Israel must always be able to defend itself by itself against any threat.

I appreciate America’s longstanding commitment to that principle, and Mr. President, I appreciate your commitment to that principle, your commitment to the security of the one and only Jewish state, which is entrusted with securing the Jewish future. You said, Mr. President, just now, that we must confront evil in the world, we must confront the barbarians. They are sadly still with us

I want to say something about the bloody horror in Manchester last night. The slaughter of innocents must be unconditionally condemned and unflinchingly confronted no matter where it occurs – in Manchester, San Bernardino or Jerusalem: Terror is terror is terror. We must all unite to defeat it.

Mr. President, today you called the terrorists losers. I know you agree with me that it’s our job to make sure that they continue to lose. We will defeat them.

Thank you. Thank you to First Lady Melania Trump. Thank you for taking such a strong stand for Israel and the Jewish people. It comes from the heart of all of us. Thank you, Mr. President.”