Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Israel on Monday, stopping in Jerusalem and making a visit to the City of David archaeological park in East Jerusalem. The visit was part of the inauguration of the fully excavated Pilgrimage Road, an ancient pathway used as Jerusalem's main thoroughfare and passage for pilgrims during the Second Temple Period.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Ambassador Mike Huckabee joined Secretary Rubio. Ambassador Huckabee called the excavation something that "lets the stones speak," according to the Jerusalem Post. Huckabee also reiterated Jerusalem is Israel's "undivided capital," saying, "the Jewish people never forgot that this was their land, their home, their undivided, indisputable, indigenous capital from eternity.”
The Pilgrimage Road is an enduring cultural and historical bond between the United States and Israel. It's a powerful reminder of the Judeo-Christian values that inspired America’s Founding Fathers. pic.twitter.com/o18ubpDqrT
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) September 15, 2025
The trip to Pilgrimage Road was part of a broader trip to Israel to discuss the ongoing war in Gaza and U.S.-Israel relations.
The U.S.-Israeli relationship is very strong. I came here because the President wants all the hostages out, all 48 of them, living and deceased. And he wants this conflict to end. That is our priority. pic.twitter.com/ZuzpVsXks1
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) September 16, 2025
The State Department shared a transcript of remarks made by both Prime Minister Netanyahu and Secretary Rubio during a private event marking the opening of the Pilgrimage Road. Netanyahu thanked Rubio and President Trump and continued to emphasize the strong relationship between the nations:
The decision by President Trump to target the nuclear facilities of Iran is not merely a military wise thing to do; it was also a message to the entire world that the United States acts and defends its interests and defends its allies. And America has no better ally than Israel. It’s obvious that Israel has no better ally than America. You’ve been a remarkable partner, a remarkable – our alliance, I think, is – has been a force for ages. And President Trump says – he said to me the other day, he said, “Remember October 7th.” That’s what he said. It’s like “remember the Alamo.” Remember October 7th. And we remember. We remember the savagery. We remember the incredible massacre of the innocent. We remember our hostages. We are committed to bringing all of them home – the living and the dead. We appreciate all the help that President Trump and you have given us in this sacred task. We remember Hamas, and we know that we must defeat them and ensure that they no longer are enabled to turn Gaza into a threat to Israel. They no longer should be there.
Your presence here in Israel today is a clear message that America stands with Israel. You stand with us in the face of terror, in the face of the incredible, I would almost say Middle Age lies, Middle Ages lies that are directed against us. The rising antisemitism in the world and the weak governments that are putting pressures on us because they collapse under the pressure of Islamist minorities and incredible vilification.
Rubio emphasized the good work the U.S. and Israel have done, and reaffirmed the President's commitment to seeing the hostages released and eliminating Hamas to secure a better future for Gaza:
There’s so many issues we work on together that extend beyond the causes of war and peace, but advances in technology, advances in economics, and those remain strong and enduring and unwavering. And not enough attention gets paid to those links – the economic links, the cultural links. We’re here today, by the way, later this evening to inaugurate and to open to the world perhaps one of the most important archeological sites in the planet – one that has deep meaning to so many people in the United States as well in the Pilgrim’s Road over at the City of David. And so it’s an honor to be here and be a part of that.
As far as the President’s been clear on the ongoing issues in Gaza, and that is that every single hostage, both living and deceased, needs to be home immediately. Hamas can no longer continue to exist as an armed element that threatens the peace and security not just of Israel but of the world, and that the people of Gaza deserve a better future, one that cannot begin until Hamas is eliminated and until all of the hostages – both living and deceased – are home. And he remains committed firmly to that objective, and that’s what we seek to talk about today, have talked about today, and will continue to talk about, and that is the road forward on how to achieve those things. Those objectives remain. Those objectives remain in place.
During the trip, Rubio also met with the families of the hostages, calling their stories "heartbreaking and unfathomable" and visited Qatari Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and thanked them "for Qatar’s ongoing mediation efforts to broker a peace deal between Israel and Hamas and to bring the hostages home," in a post on X.
Rubio is expected to remain in the region until September 18.