U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Tuesday that the Western Wall is part of Israel, something other Trump administration officials would not unequivocally state the same day.
In an interview with The Brody File on CBN News, Haley said she didn't know what the administration's official policy was on the matter but offered her opinion.
"I don’t know what the policy of the administration is, but I believe the Western Wall is part of Israel, and I think that that's how we’ve always seen it and that’s how we should pursue it," Haley said. "I'm not real sure what happened with that issue, but I know they're trying to fix that ... We’ve always thought that the Western Wall was part of Israel."
The debate over whether the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, is part of Israel has boiled over this week. Ahead of President Trump's upcoming visit to the Jewish state, a U.S. diplomat reportedly angered Israelis by saying the site was part of the occupied West Bank and thus not under legitimate Israeli jurisdiction.
National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster declined twice to answer if he thought the Western Wall was in Israel on Tuesday. Asked why McMaster wouldn't answer the question, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said it was "clearly in Jerusalem," but he didn't state Jerusalem was in Israel. Israel considers Jerusalem its capital but that claim does not have international recognition.
"The Western Wall is obviously one of the holiest sites in the Jewish faith," Spicer said. "It's clearly in Jerusalem, but there's been—it's an issue that has had serious consideration. It'll be a topic that's going to be discussed during the president's trip between parties that he meets with, but obviously, I think, this stems from a comment that was made yesterday which was not the policy of the United States."
UPDATE: May 21, 10:47 A.M.: An earlier version of this article referred to Jerusalem as Israel's capital without noting this claim is not internationally recognized.