Palace: Duterte to visit Jordan after Israel trip

President Rodrigo Duterte will visit Jordan after his trip to Israel in September, Malacañang said Tuesday.

Details of the trip to Jordan, which has committed to donate two attack helicopters to the Philippines, have yet to be released by the Palace.

“We want to promote ties with all peoples of the Middle East,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said at a news conference when asked about the objective of the trip to the Hashemite Kingdom.

Duterte will be in Israel from September 2 to 5 upon the invitation of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

It will be the first visit by a Philippine leader since diplomatic ties were established between the two countries in 1957.

During the visit, Duterte and Netanyahu are expected to discuss how to expand cooperation in areas such as labor, tourism, trade, agriculture, counterterrorism, security and law enforcement.

Duterte will also meet Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and touch base with the Filipino community there.

Duterte will be accompanied by a business delegation and take part in a business forum.

The President was originally scheduled to visit Israel in May last year but it was put on hold due to the Marawi crisis.

Duterte received condemnation from Jewish groups in September 2016 when he said he would be "happy to slaughter" some three million drug addicts, similar to what the late German dictator Adolf Hitler did to around six million Jews during World War II.

Duterte later apologized to the Jewish community, saying it was not his intention to derogate the memory of Jews slaughtered by Nazi Germany. —KBK, GMA News