Israel ‘shocked’ over Trump aide’s Western Wall comments

Less than a week before US President Donald Trump arrives in Israel, the White House has been forced on to the defensive over reported comments by an American diplomat describing the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City – one of Judaism’s holiest sites – as being in the West Bank.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office said it was shocked by the comments and said it had asked the United States to explain what was meant by them.

According to Israel’s Channel 2 News, a member of the US delegation preparing for Trump’s visit made the comment about the wall when Israeli officials suggested a photographer shoot video of the President during a proposed visit to the site.

The Western Wall (R) in Jerusalem is one of the holiest sites for Jews.

PHOTO: THOMAS COEX/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

The Israeli officials were reportedly told that the President’s visit to the site was private and that he did not want Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accompany him there; the American official reportedly added that Israel did not have jurisdiction over the area.

“Israel is convinced that this statement is contrary to the position of President [Donald] Trump, as expressed in his firm opposition to the most recent UN Security Council Resolution,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a written statement Monday.

READ MORE: Israel to expand who can pray at holy Western Wall

A White House spokesman later told CNN: “These comments were not authorized by the White House. They do not reflect the US position, and certainly not the President’s position.”

The US embassy in Israel told CNN it had no comment to make.

Photos: Photos: A look inside Jerusalem

A look inside Jerusalem —  

Daily life in Jerusalem: A boy plays with a soccer ball in front of the Dome of the Rock. It's one of several key religious sites, all contained within a tiny area, making anyone's first visit to the Old City unforgettable.

PHOTO: AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images

Photos: Photos: A look inside Jerusalem

Dome of the Rock —  

Ultra-Orthodox Jews look out over the Dome of the Rock. Israel took control of the eastern part of the ancient city in 1967 and considers Jerusalem its capital, but the international community doesn't recognize its claim of sovereignty over East Jerusalem. Palestinians maintain that the eastern part of Jerusalem should serve as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

PHOTO: David Silverman/Getty Images

Photos: Photos: A look inside Jerusalem

The Western Wall —  

A man sticks a note into the Western Wall. This is part of the original Jewish temple complex in the Old City.

PHOTO: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

Photos: Photos: A look inside Jerusalem

A country of museums —  

People look at the Isaiah Scroll, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, in the vault of the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum. With more than 200 museums, Israel has the highest number of museums per capita in the world. Here is a list of 10 of the best.

PHOTO: Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images

Photos: Photos: A look inside Jerusalem

'Where Jesus walked' —  

Christian pilgrims hold a wooden cross as they take part in the Good Friday procession along the Via Dolorosa. The Via Dolorosa leads to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christian tradition says Jesus was crucified and buried.

PHOTO: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

Photos: Photos: A look inside Jerusalem

A city with its own medical condition —  

Jewish men attend the Kohanim prayer, or priest's blessing, for Passover in April 2011. The city has its own medical condition, Jerusalem Syndrome. About 100 tourists each year succumb to the psychiatric disorder linked to the city's atmosphere of intensity.

PHOTO: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

Photos: Photos: A look inside Jerusalem

Life amid holy sites —  

In among the holy sites, daily life roars on: Souks crowd the narrow, stone-flagged alleyways; children go to school; libraries jostle with restaurants. Here, a soldier buys candy at the Mahane Yehuda Market.

PHOTO: MARINA PASSOS/AFP/Getty Images

Photos: Photos: A look inside Jerusalem

A look inside Jerusalem —  

Children play in a fountain at a park in Jerusalem.

PHOTO: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

Photos: Photos: A look inside Jerusalem

Religious identity —  

Israeli police stand guard as Palestinian Muslims perform Friday prayers outside Jerusalem's Old City. Palestinians are mostly Arab and chiefly Muslim, but there are substantial minorities of Palestinian Christians and others.

PHOTO: AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images

Photos: Photos: A look inside Jerusalem

Photos: A look inside Jerusalem —  

Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock are seen in March 2010.

PHOTO: David Silverman/Getty Images/FILE

Photos: Photos: A look inside Jerusalem

A look inside Jerusalem —  

A child walks through a gap in the concrete blocks of a security wall in the West Bank village of Eizariya, east of Jerusalem, in 2003. Take a walking tour of East Jerusalem or a pilgrimage to the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, and you'll run into Israel's infamous security barrier.

PHOTO: PEDRO UGARTE/AFP/Getty Images

Photos: Photos: A look inside Jerusalem

Identity —  

A Palestinian woman and a teenager collect laundry in their home as ultra-Orthodox Jews attend a funeral in 2010.

PHOTO: MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images

Photos: Photos: A look inside Jerusalem

Photos: A look inside Jerusalem —  

Worshipers gather in the rotunda of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the eve of Easter Sunday in April 2011.

PHOTO: AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images/FILE

Photos: Photos: A look inside Jerusalem

Mount of Olives —  

Tombs sit covered in snow at the Jewish cemetery at the Mount of Olives. There are spectacular views at the summit.

PHOTO: MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images

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Israel assumed control over all of Jerusalem in 1967 following the Six-Day War. Palestinians and most of the international community regard all or part of East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. Israel began its occupation of the West Bank at the same time; the occupation is regarded as illegal by most countries, though Israel disputes that.

The spat came on the day the new US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman – an orthodox Jew – arrived in the country to take up his position.

Immediately after landing in Tel Aviv, Friedman traveled to Jerusalem and visited the Western Wall, praying for the health of his family and for the success of President Trump.

The new US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, visited the wall Monday.

PHOTO: Sebastian Scheiner/AP

Friedman, who has long argued for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and previously called the two-state solution a “scam,” presented his credentials to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Tuesday.

In prepared remarks, Friedman said the Ambassadorship was the greatest honor of his life and promised to “support the state of Israel in every way and in all ways.” He made no reference to suggestions the US embassy might be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Trump has two weeks to make that decision, before the embassy automatically moves based on a 1995 US law mandating the location switch. Every President since then – Republican and Democrat – has waived the embassy move every six months, citing national security concerns.

CNN’s Kevin Liptak and Elizabeth Roberts contributed to this report.