National security adviser H.R. McMaster on Tuesday did nothing to douse the controversy over the Western Wall snafu, and may have inflamed it instead.
And it caught the attention of House Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows, who said McMaster's comment would represent "a concerning shift in the policy of this administration," the Washington Examiner reported.
McMaster was asked about a comment made by an American diplomat, in Israel ahead of President Donald Trump's trip there next week, who said Israel does not have jurisdiction over the Western Wall in Jerusalem, considered the holiest site in all of Judaism.
McMaster replied, "that sounds like a policy decision" which drew the ire of Meadows.
"There is no question that both geographically and historically the Western Wall has been part of the state of Israel," Meadows said, the Examiner reported. "I hope H.R. McMaster will retract his remarks swiftly."
The White House had already backed off the comment made by the diplomat, saying he doesn't represent the administration.
Israel took control of the wall, also called the Wailing Wall, in 1967. The wall is all that's left of the second temple of Jerusalem, destroyed by the Romans in the year 70.
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