PLEASE NOTE: Daily posting and “Answers” emails will end for the school year on Friday, May 26th.
Check the website during the summer for occasional posts - most likely under the Extras category on the homepage.

NOTE TO STUDENTS: To assist your understanding, do the following:

• Print the article before reading.
• Number the paragraphs from 1-30.
• Read once, and as you do: circle or highlight the important points - such as, when the president uses the words pledge or promise, call upon, join us, join in and shared responsibility, coalition.
• Read the questions. Then read the speech a second time.
• Refer to the questions as you read – write the number of the question next to the paragraph(s) in which you find the answer.

1. Read President Trump’s speech in its entirety. (Watch the video under “Resources” below.)
Tone is the attitude a speaker takes towards a subject.
What was the overall tone of President Trump’s speech at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem? (What adjectives did he use to describe Israel and its people?)

2. President Trump’s first trip abroad is to visit the leaders of the world’s 3 major religions, as well as attend the NATO summit in Brussels and the G7 summit in Italy. In the beginning of his speech at the Israel Museum, what does President Trump say is the goal of his trip?

3. What pledges does President Trump make in his speech? (see paragraphs 6 and 14)

4. What promise did he make to the Jewish people during his address?

5. What does President Trump call upon all people to do in paragraph 10?

6. Re-read paragraphs 12-13. Do you agree with the assertions the president makes here? Explain your answer.

7. What same message does President Trump give to Israel that he gave to the Muslim world during his speech to the leaders of 50 Muslim countries while in Riyadh?

8. What assurances does he give the Israeli people about threats from Iran?

9. In addition to support for Israel, the other main theme of President Trump’s speech is that we are all in this together. We are all threatened by terrorists. That all decent people want to live in peace. That we all, as civilized nations, should be united in our fight against extremists. That the Saudis and the Israelis and the Palestinians want peace. What do you think of President Trump’s exhortation?

10. President Trump firmly acknowledges not only Israel’s right to exist, but the fact that the country of Israel is the destiny (as promised by God) of the Jewish people.
In paragraphs 5, 7, 9 and 16:

• He calls Jerusalem their heritage and says “The ties of the Jewish people to this Holy Land are ancient and eternal. They date back thousands of years, including the reign of King David”
• “Israel is a testament to the unbreakable spirit of the Jewish people”
• He says the are free to “pray to God in the ancient land of their fathers”

a) How do you view the president renewing the U.S.’s strong support for Israel? (Discuss this answer with a parent.)
b) What is your overall impression of the President’s speech? (It was inspiring, not inspiring, statesmanlike, unstatesmanlike…)