Sajid Javid visits Kotel, Yad Vashem and meets Netanyahu on Israel trip

Home Secretary Sajid Javid placed a note between the stones of Jerusalem’s Western Wall today during a two-day visit to Israel.

Before meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and after a “deeply moving and emotional” visit to the national Holocaust memorial and museum at Yad Vashem, Javid toured Jerusalem and became the first UK cabinet minister to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site.

He said: “Freedom of religion and belief is a non-negotiable right for all peoples, and the UK government is committed to tackling anti-Muslim hatred, antisemitism, the persecution of Christians and any other impediments to this right both in the UK and around the world.”

Javid and Netanyahu said they discussed security cooperation, and the Israeli PM thanked the home secretary for banning Hezbollah in its entirety earlier this year.

Israeli Minister of Public Security and Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan tweeted that it was “a pleasure to host my dear friend” while Javid tweeted that the UK and Israel “share an unbreakable bond”.

Erdan earlier said that the pair “agreed to establish joint working groups on combating online threats such as exploitation of children and terrorist incitement, and on facing the challenge of drones”.

Javid also met with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and UN Middle East envoy Nicoklay Mladenov, when he reaffirmed that the UK “remains committed to making progress towards a two-state solution… with Jerusalem as a shared capital”.