Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the archeological site of the ancient city of Shiloh, which during biblical times served as the first capital of the Israelites, before King David designated Jerusalem as his seat of power. Accompanied by former U.S. Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee and the Binyamin Regional Council Chairman Yisrael Gantz, the Prime Minister stressed the significance of preserving the ancient site that provides attests to the Jewish link to the land of Israel and to the great wonder of the revival of the Jewish state. According to Netanyahu: “I am very excited to be here. I came here for the first time in 1967, right after the Six Day War, as a young soldier. I remember that during navigational exercises, I went to Tel Shilo to see ancient Shilo, the capital of Israel. Here, it has revived. Under the heritage plan, we established here a visitor center so that every Jew and every tourist in Israel can come and see our first capital. This is exciting. It attests to our link with the Land of Israel and to the great wonder of the revival of Israel.” The ancient city of Shiloh was mentioned in the Biblical Books of Joshua, Judges, the first book of Samuel, and Psalms.
Following his tour of the archeological site, the Prime Minister held a meeting with leaders of Jewish West Bank settlements, and provided them with the opportunity to voice their needs and concerns. According to an Israeli media report, which TV7 was not able to verify, the Prime Minister took advantage of the meeting by trying to reassure those in attendance that he will oppose any form of ‘settlements evacuation’ or ‘division of Jerusalem,’ even if U.S. President Donald Trump’s so called “deal of the century” entails such demands.