Rubio visits contentious Jerusalem archaeological site, boosting Israeli claim to area

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday visited a contentious archaeological site beneath Jerusalem, giving US backing to a Jewish settler-led project that critics say undermines prospects for a future Palestinian state.

The visit, from which international and local media were barred, marked the latest endorsement by the Trump administration of initiatives that opponents say are aimed at cementing Israel’s claims to East Jerusalem, which Palestinians view as the capital of a future state.

The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, the City of David Foundation said in a statement.

The City of David archaeological park sits in the shadow of the elevated compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary, a flashpoint that has triggered outbreaks of violence over the decades and remains at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The global heritage body UNESCO opposed construction of the park in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan, outside of what most of the world recognizes as Israel’s territory.

Rubio said he would be inaugurating a newly excavated path attached to the park known as Pilgrims’ Road, believed by archeologists to have been traversed by visitors to Judaism’s Second Temple around 2,000 years ago.

“It’s one of the most important archaeological sites in the world,” Rubio said before departing Washington on Saturday. “I understand people want to involve politics in it. I understand everything in this region is political to some extent. But at the end of the day, it’s an extraordinary archaeological site.”

Speaking at a press conference alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, Rubio called the park “one of the most important archaeological sites on the planet — one that has deep meaning to so many people in the United States as well.”

“It’s an honor to be here and be a part of that,” he said.

While parts of Pilgrims’ Road had previously been opened, it has now been fully excavated by the Israel Antiquities Authority, allowing visitors to walk from one end to the other.

In a brief clip shared by the City of David Foundation from the event, Rubio said that standing “on the very road where 2,000 years ago, so many from everywhere ventured to fulfill that desire to be closer to the Creator is a humbling and honoring experience.”

Jerusalem’s Pilgrimage Road Unveiled

PM Netanyahu, US Sec. Rubio, and Amb. Huckabee open Jerusalem’s ancient Pilgrimage Road, linking Siloam Pool to Temple Mount. US and Argentina recognize City of David as a heritage site, affirming Jewish ties to Jerusalem.

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— Eli Goldman | אלי גולדמן (@EliGoldmanx) September 16, 2025

Netanyahu added that “two thousand years after the destruction of the Second Temple, we are rediscovering our past and building our future—based on the Jerusalem of 2,000 years ago.”

He appeared to hit back at past remarks by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who in 2020 implied that Jerusalem belonged to Turkey, given the Ottoman Empire’s control over the city for much of the modern era.

“This is our city, Mr. Erdoğan. It’s not your city. It’s our city. It will always be our city. It will not be divided again,” Netanyahu said now.

“That’s why I so much appreciate the leadership of [US] President [Donald] Trump in this area as well,” he went on.

He said that when the president declared Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in his first term — “something that should have been acknowledged by every leader in the world” — and moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, Netanyahu told the president that any fallout “will be primarily directed at us, and we are definitely ready. So he just did it.’”

“And I welcome today [Rubio,] who understands that this is the foundation of our common Judeo-Christian heritage…This is our city. It is forever our city. It will never be divided again,” he declared.

Huckabee also hailed Jerusalem as Israel’s “undivided” capital, saying: “The Jewish people never forgot that this was their land, their home, their undivided, indisputable, indigenous capital from eternity.”

According to the City of David Foundation, the tunnel was discovered at the Pool of Siloam at the base of the City of David, an archaeological site just south of the Old City, and runs 600 meters (1,970 feet) to the Temple Mount.

The top US diplomat was expected to knock down a temporary wall built near the Southern Wall excavations to “open” the Pilgrims’ Road to the Temple Mount, a source with knowledge said.

Former US ambassador to Israel David Friedman previously sparked controversy over his use of a sledgehammer to knock down a temporary wall unveiling a different part of the site, though he rejected criticism that the move signaled US recognition of Israeli sovereignty in the contested area.

The Trump administration’s 2017 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the subsequent move of the US embassy to the city from Tel Aviv marked a departure from decades of American policy that Jerusalem’s status should be determined through Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

The visit comes ahead of a meeting of world leaders at the United Nations in New York this month, where Britain, France, Canada, Australia and Belgium are expected to formally recognize a Palestinian state, which Israel rejects.

Rubio has said that the move will only encourage Israel to take its own actions to prevent the formation of a Palestinian state.

Residents and Israeli advocacy groups say the excavations under Silwan have been conducted beneath Palestinian homes without consulting residents and do not meet the standards of professional archaeology.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not respond to a request for comment.

Ze’ev Orenstein, director of international affairs at the City of David, said: “All the archeological excavations are carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority according to the highest standards.” He declined to answer further questions.

Fakhri Abu Diab, an activist from Silwan, said the excavations were conducted without transparency and contravened international law.

Rubio’s visit would embolden Israel and its settler movement, he said. “This act by the United States gives the green light for more settlement expansion, demolitions, ethnic cleansing, and all the practices carried out by Israel,” he said.

Park run by Israeli settler group

The battle over Jerusalem’s archaeological and religious sites reflects the struggle over sovereignty since Israel’s founding in 1948. The city’s east and Old City, with its Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Armenian quarters, fell under Jordanian control after Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, with Jews barred from its holy sites until 1967.

Since Israel captured the area during the Six Day War, Palestinian residents regularly face home demolitions, restrictive building permits, and what advocacy groups describe as systematic discrimination.

The City of David park has been operated since the early 2000s by Elad, a settler group that has appropriated land, acquired Palestinian homes and pushed for the eviction of Palestinian families in Silwan, according to a July report by the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

“Despite its rich, heterogeneous history, the narrative presented at the City of David site focuses only on the site’s Jewish history (primarily the period of the Kingdom of Judea in the tenth century B.C.E. and the period of the Second Temple), disregarding all other periods and cultures,” the panel’s report said.

Rubio’s visit to Jerusalem began on Sunday when Netanyahu led him and US Ambassador Mike Huckabee on a tour of the Western Wall, one of Judaism’s holiest sites. They also visited the nearby Western Wall tunnels, another Israeli excavation that has been criticized by the UN.

A State Department spokesperson said Sunday’s visit reaffirmed “America’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s eternal capital.”