Questions about Russia follow Trump during first Israel visit

JERUSALEM — President Trump solemnly placed a note in the ancient stones of Jerusalem’s Western Wall on Monday, sending a signal of solidarity to an ally he’s pushing to work harder toward peace with the Palestinians.

In this second stop on his maiden foreign trip as president, Trump unexpectedly offered a new defense of his disclosure of classified information to Russian diplomats in a recent Oval Office meeting.

Standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he argued he never mentioned Israel, the source of the classified intelligence, according to various officials — something he has not been accused of doing.

After years of butting heads with Trump’s predecessor, Netanyahu celebrated a new American president’s arrival as a moment of hope in the stalled peace talks between Israel and Palestinians.

“There is a growing realization among your Arab neighbors that they have common cause with you in the threat posed by Iran,” he said, at a welcome meeting with President Rueven Rivlin.

[...] Trump’s unconventional approach to diplomacy has raised hopes that he may be well positioned to jump-start talks bogged down by entrenched interests and ancient enmity.