June 25, 2019

Sebastian Piñera, President of Chile, visited the Western Wall Tuesday with his wife and a large delegation as part of his visit to the State of Israel.

The Director of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, Mr. Mordechai (Suli) Eliav, told President Piñera about the history of the site and about it being a house of prayer for all nations.

The President also heard about Jewish yearning for Jerusalem throughout the generations. The President expressed vast knowledge of history and was deeply impressed despite this not being his first visit to the Western Wall, and received an album about the Western Wall Tunnels as a souvenir.

Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the Western Wall and holy sites, recited a chapter of Psalms with the President and blessed him with King Solomon’s prayer that all his prayers will be accepted with good will. The Rabbi added that visiting the Western Wall expresses identification with the values and heritage of the Jewish nation.

The President remarked that the school named for Anne Frank prepared notes with their prayers that they gave him to place between the stones of the Wall during this respectable and moving ceremony.

The President of Chile signed the Western Wall guestbook with a prayer asking G-d to bring peace to the Holy Land.