WASHINGTON — President Obama plans a symbolic visit during his trip to Israel that US lawmakers say will attest to the legitimacy of Jewish claims to their historic homeland.
Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, briefed Jewish members of Congress yesterday on key elements of Obama’s trip, including a planned visit to the Shrine of the Book, which houses the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls, written in Hebrew and other ancient tongues.
“This will show the historical reality of Israel being in the hands of the Jews for thousands of years,” Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) told The Post.
Waxman said the visit would help correct an element of Obama’s controversial Cairo speech early in his first term, “where he seemed to suggest that Israel was the creation of the Holocaust.”
By visiting the building where the ancient scrolls are stored, “you’re noting some of the things that show the ancient Jewish ties to the land,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan/Brooklyn).