Trump lands in Israel, 'seeking paths to Israeli-Palestinian peace'

US President Donald Trump landed in Israel on Monday, attempting to seek ways to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace, a goal that has eluded his predecessors but which he says could be easier than "people have thought".

Trump arrived in Tel Aviv and was welcomed by officials including Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin.

Receiving Trump, Netanyahu praised the “historic” trip which he said had “never” taken place before.

“Never before has the first foreign trip of a president of the United States included a trip to Israel. Thank you for this powerful expression,” he said at the welcoming ceremony.

He also went on to praise Israel's alleged safeguarding of religious minority groups, including Christians and Muslims.

"Throughout the Middle East, Christian communities are decimated - but here in Israel we have a thriving Christian community and we guarantee the rights of all," he suggested.

Ahead of talks with Netanyahu, Trump will tour two iconic sites in Jerusalem, a city holy to Muslims, Christians and Jews.

The first will be the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built at the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.

Afterwards, he is expected to become the first sitting US president to visit the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray and located in east Jerusalem.

The Western Wall visit drew controversy before Trump even left Washington, when US officials declined to say whether it belonged to Israel.

Trump's visit is part of his first trip abroad as president, and follows an initial stop in Saudi Arabia, where he urged Islamic leaders to confront extremism.

Security was extremely tight, with Israeli police deploying some 10,000 officers and the alleys and passageways of Jerusalem's ancient Old City, which Trump will visit later in the day, were essentially under lockdown.

Enormous challenge

Trump is expected to meet Netanyahu at 6:00 pm (1500 GMT).

Ahead of their meeting, Netanyahu's security cabinet adopted a series of measures he said were aimed at benefiting the Palestinian economy, moves seen as confidence-building measures requested by Trump.

They reportedly included new building permits for Palestinians in the part of the West Bank entirely under Israeli control, which occurs only rarely.

Most of the West Bank is under complete Israeli occupation and Palestinians face extremely long odds in being granted building permits in those areas, while Israeli settlement building, deemed illegal under international law, has meanwhile continued.

On Tuesday, Trump will meet Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem in the West Bank, visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem and give a speech at the Israel Museum.

Any leader would face an enormous challenge in seeking to bring the Israelis and Palestinians together for meaningful talks, and Trump's inexperience and domestic political struggles will only add to it.

However, he has spoken of his self-described deal-making prowess in declaring that the "ultimate deal" is possible, vowing "we will get it done".

"It is something that I think is frankly maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years," Trump said when meeting Abbas in Washington earlier this month.

Trump has sent mixed signals about how he will approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He cast uncertainty over years of international efforts to foster a two-state solution when he met Netanyahu at the White House in February.

Criticism of Iran

At that meeting, he said he would support a single state if it led to peace, delighting Israeli right-wingers who want to see most of the West Bank annexed.

At the same time, he urged Israel to hold back on settlement building in the West Bank, a longstanding concern of Palestinians and much of the world.

Trump advocated during his campaign breaking with decades of precedent and moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, deeply alarming Palestinians.

He has since said the move was still being looked at.

The status of Jerusalem is ultra-sensitive and has been among the most difficult issues in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Israel occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967 in moves never recognised by the international community.

It later annexed east Jerusalem and claims the entire city as its capital. The Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

On the Israeli side, Netanyahu heads what is seen as the most right-wing government in the country's history, and members of his coalition were elated with Trump's election.

Some even called for an end to the idea of a Palestinian state.

Trump's actions since have left them disappointed, with the embassy remaining in Tel Aviv - at least for now - and the White House seeking to restart peace efforts.

However, the United States remains Israel's most important ally, providing it with more than $3 billion in defence aid annually.

After Israel and the Palestinian territories, Trump will head to the Vatican along with Brussels and Italy for NATO and G7 meetings.