Rubio, Netanyahu reopen ancient Pilgrimage Road in Jerusalem

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday reopened the Pilgrimage Road in Jerusalem, a first-century route linking the City of David to the Temple Mount.

The Pilgrimage Road, a broad stone route used during the Second Temple period, connected the Pool of Siloam, where pilgrims purified themselves in ritual baths, to Judaism’s holiest site, the Temple Mount.

Jerusalem “is forever our city,” Netanyahu declared at the ceremony in the City of David, according to a recording published by his office. “It will never be divided again, and there will be no Palestinian state.”

“Any unilateral action can be met with unilateral action,” Netanyahu added, referencing recent calls by European nations to “plant a Palestinian state committed to our destruction right here.”

Also speaking at Monday’s ceremony, Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said that the stones of the ancient site “100% validate that the Jewish people not only belong here now, but they have belonged here for 4,000 years, since the time God said to Abraham: this is yours.”

“Tonight, the rest of the world comes to say: welcome home, and may no one ever, ever attempt to take your home from you,” he added.

The unveiling of the ancient road, “an event of historical and cultural importance to the Jewish people,” marked the conclusion of a “highly successful visit to Israel by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio,” according to a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.

Rubio, in a post on his official X account, called the road “an enduring cultural and historical bond” with Jerusalem and a “powerful reminder of the Judeo-Christian values that inspired America’s Founding Fathers.”

The ancient road runs roughly 650 yards and is now open on both ends. Huckabee noted on X that the attendees became the first to make the pilgrimage from the City of David to the Temple Mount in 2,000 years.

Rubio, who touched down in Israel on Sunday, met for some three hours with Netanyahu at his Jerusalem office on Monday morning.

Also attending the meeting were Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, and Jerusalem’s envoy to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, as well as Huckabee, according to Netanyahu’s office.

“Mr. Secretary, Marco, your visit to our eternal and undivided capital of Jerusalem is a powerful affirmation of a powerful bond,” Netanyahu told the press following the closed meeting.

Jerusalem and Washington will continue to “protect our common civilization, because we are engaged in a battle of civilization and barbarism,” Netanyahu vowed.