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Trump envoy: ‘We can’t Judaize what history and archaeology show’

In response to PA criticism of U.S. attendance at a City of David event, Jason Greenblatt tells Palestinians: “We can acknowledge it and you can stop pretending it isn’t true!”

By World Israel News Staff 

In an additional sign of the Trump administration’s recognition of the Jewish people’s connection to Jerusalem, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt are attending a ceremony Sunday inaugurating archaeological finds at the Path of the Pilgrims.

“On the slope of the City of David south to the Temple Mount, where the Kidron valley and the Hinnom Valley meet, a 2,000-year-old road was discovered just a few years ago,” writes Travelujah, a Holy Land travel group.

The event has been organized by the Ir David (City of David) Foundation, also known as El-AD, which refers to itself as a non-profit organization “dedicated to the preservation and development of the Biblical City of David and its environs.”

Greenblatt rejected criticism leveled by the Palestinian Authority (PA) that the U.S. government was cooperating with Israeli efforts to Judaize Jerusalem.

The U.S. envoy tweeted that the event is “historic” and that the PA accusation is “ludicrous,” adding that “we can’t ‘Judaize’ what history/archeology show. We can acknowledge it and you can stop pretending it isn’t true!”

“This magnificent pool was constructed 2,000 years ago during the days of King Herod, in Jerusalem’s glorious building tradition,” says Travelujah.

“This grand pool served as an important meeting point for Jerusalem’s pilgrims, who would arrive in the city to visit the Temple Mount on the three major Jewish holidays: Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkoth), and the Festival of Weeks (Shavuot),” it adds.

On Friday, Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Saeb Erekat condemned a statement by Greenblatt, in which he said that he prefers to call Israeli settlements “neighborhoods and cities,” reports WAFA, the official PA news agency.

“During a meeting with a delegation of U.S. academics, clerks and representatives of civil society, Erekat said Greenblatt’s statement was incitement against all those who attended the recent Manama workshop for Middle East peace,” according to WAFA.

The PA boycotted the workshop, though it was aimed at economically developing the Palestinian territories.