First Ever Visit to the Kotel by a French President

By COLlive staff

The President of France visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Wednesday for the first time, as part of the visits of heads of state to Jerusalem.

“I feel the holiness and the history here,” said French President Emmanuel Macron this evening during his first visit at the Western Wall Plaza.

Heads of state have begun visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem today (Wednesday). Among the leaders are: President Emanuel Macron of France, President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson of Iceland, President Željko Komšić of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and President Salome Zourabichvili of Georgia, who all had a personal prayer by the stones of the Western Wall. These visits are due to the arrival of delegations for the World Holocaust Forum taking place at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem tomorrow to mark 75 years since the liberation Auschwitz–Birkenau.

The President of France was very moved by his visit. The President stayed for quite a while and heard an explanation about the history of the place from the Director of the Western Wall Mordechai (Suli) Eliav and met with lone soldiers from France, and said a personal prayer at the Western Wall. Then, he visited the new excavations at the Western Wall Plaza where he expressed interest over the new findings, and in the number of visitors to the Western Wall per year.

The Rabbi of the Western Wall thanked the President of France for his visit to the Western Wall noting that it conveyed appreciation for the Jewish nation’s history and heritage, of which France is a part. He explained the power of the site for every Jew around the world, offering the example of every synagogue in France facing Jerusalem and the Western Wall when praying.