Pence kicks off Israel visit with Netanyahu meeting amid Palestinian snub

US Vice President Mike Pence began his visit to Israel on Monday, meeting Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in a highly controversial tour of the Middle East.

The visit - initially scheduled for December before being postponed - is the final leg of a trip that has included talks in Egypt and Jordan as well as a stop at a US military facility near the Syrian border.

Pence's tour has been overshadowed by President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, in a move that has angered Palestinian parties and Washington's Arab partners.

In response, the Palestinian leadership refused to meet the US official amid anger at the White House's Jerusalem policy.

In contrast, Israel rolled out a warm welcome for Pence as he arrived, saying it was an honour to "to be in Israel's capital, Jerusalem".

Pence placed his right hand over his heart as an honour guard greeted him with the American national anthem.

White House Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt, US Ambassador David Friedman and the Israeli ambassador to Washington, Ron Dermer, joined the ceremony.

Pence spoke warmly with Israeli soldiers before meeting Netanyahu who thanked the US official for President Donald Trump's "historic" recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

He also said the American-Israeli alliance has "never been stronger".

The US vice-president visited Egypt and Jordan prior to his arrival in Israel and is set to deliver a speech in the Israeli Knesset later in the day.

Palestinian snub

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is refusing to meet Pence because of Trump's controversial decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

It makes Pence's visit to the region rare in not including talks with the Palestinians.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a senior Abbas adviser, reiterated that the United States "is no longer acceptable as a mediator" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Pence, speaking at the military facility, said he hopes "the Palestinian Authority will soon re-engage".

"Regarding peace, I have a message to Abu Mazen. There's no substitute to the American leadership in leading the diplomatic process," Netanyahu said on Sunday night, using Abbas' Arabic nickname. 

"Whoever won't discuss peace with the Americans, doesn't want peace," he said.

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank protested Pence's arrival by burning posters with his image, while the main Palestinian political bloc in Israel – the Joint List – will boycott his Knesset speech.

Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint List, said it was the party's democratic right to skip the speech. In a tweet, he said the party will not provide a "silent backdrop" to a man he says is a "dangerous racist".

Netanyahu has called the boycott a disgrace.

Seventeen Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since Trump's announcement on Jerusalem, with most of them killed in clashes in the West Bank and airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.