TEL AVIV, Israel — With U.S. President Donald Trump's first state visit to Israel, officials here rejoiced not in what was said, but in what wasn't.

During his speeches at Ben Gurion Airport and the Israel Museum on Monday and Tuesday respectively, Trump did not utter the three words that have made many an Israeli wince: two state-solution.

Nor did he mention settlements, the crux of the problem between Israel and Palestinians, or occupation for that matter.

What he did cite repeatedly was Iran, along with his vow to prevent Iran not only from "possessing" nuclear weapons, but for speech and actions that call for Israel's destruction.

"I make this promise to you, my administration will always stand with Israel," Trump told Israeli ministers at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem on Tuesday. "Iran's leaders routinely call for Israel's destruction. Not with Donald J. Trump, believe me."

"Even as we work toward peace, we will build strength to defend our nations. The United States is firmly committed to keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and halting their support of terrorists and militias. So we are telling you right now that Iran will not have nuclear weapons," he asserted.

In a lightening 28-hour visit here — the ninth by six U.S. presidents dating back to Richard Nixon — Trump hailed Palestine Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for his willingness to reach a peace deal. In a short side trip to Bethlehem, Trump said he was "gratified" that Abbas "was committed to taking firm but necessary steps to fight terrorism and confront its hateful ideology."

And in words that resonated well in Israel — which chronically accuses the West Bank Authority for inciting violence and compensating families of those involved in terror attacks — Trump made perhaps his sharpest point of the trip. Peace, he said, "can never take root in an environment where violence is tolerated, funded or rewarded. We must be resolute in condemning such acts in a single, unified voice."

But in Israel, Trump was not nearly as direct. He declined to reiterate stated U.S.-policy on a two-state construct for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, nor did he repeat his earlier calls to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to slow Israeli settlement building in disputed areas of the West Bank.

Instead, he focused on stamping out terrorism.

"We must build a coalition of partners who share the aim of stamping out extremists and violence, and providing our children a peaceful and

hopeful future," Trump said.

Michael Oren, a deputy minister in Netanyahu’s coalition government and a former Israeli ambassador to Washington, said the vagueness with which Trump addressed the Israeli-Palestinian issue coupled with his sharp condemnation of Iran and terror dovetailed comfortably with current Israeli thinking.

"Trump's proposed formula for peace did not rest on the traditional mindset of a two states for two people, based on 1967 borders with or without land swaps," he told reporters in a conference call on Tuesday.

"The word 'settlements' I didn't hear once during his visit, he did not talk about a two-state solution, even after he left Bethlehem, he did not talk about the '67 borders," Oren said.

"My reading of the most significance part of his trip, was the way the peace process was approached," he said, explaining Trump has diverted from George W. Bush's 2002 roadmap to peace which brought the international community into the equation.

"President Trump's message was heard from the outset. He came here to convey love. It was a message about standing up to extremist Islam,

and in this way the president distinguished himself from his predecessor," Oren said.

His words matched his actions during his visit here. As the first sitting president to visit the Western Wall - the second holiest site in Judaism - Trump scored with Israelis on rhetorical, visual and historic fronts. Due to its location beyond the 1967 borders, presidents have avoided visiting the site for fear it would send a message to Palestinians that the United States recognized that the wall was part of Israeli sovereign territory.

But Trump had no reservations as he placed his note of prayer in between the wall's many cracks and uploaded a photo of his time there as his Twitter cover photo.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to speak for many in Israel Tuesday when he said, "Thank you, President Trump, for your steadfast friendship to the Jewish people and the Jewish state. It is deeply, deeply appreciated."

Noa Amouyal contributed to this report from Jerusalem.

About Barbara Opall-Rome

Opall-Rome is Israel bureau chief for Defense News. She has been covering U.S.-Israel strategic cooperation, Mideast security and missile defense since May 1988. She lives north of Tel Aviv. Visit her website at www.opall-rome.com.

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