The Palestinians took careful note of President Donald Trump's welcoming ceremony at Ben Gurion Airport and proudly boasted on Palestinian TV that during the ceremony at the Mukataa in Bethlehem, there were no such embarrassments.

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The ceremony welcoming President Trump at Ben Gurion Airport was rife with glitches, the most notable of which was when a member of Knesset sneaked into the front row and grabbed Trump for a selfie. Another such 'incident' took place when a minister told Trump of a suspected terrorist attack, even though it had already been made clear that it was nothing more than a traffic accident.

Trump welcomed at Bethlehem (Photo: Reuters)

"I liked to see during the ceremony what a difference there was between the way President Trump was received in Bethlehem and the way they greeted him at Lod airport yesterday," the broadcasters said on Palestinian television. "What happened at the airport in Lod was referred to by the Israeli media as a disgrace, anarchy, embarrassment."

The broadcasters of the Palestine channel, the Palestinian Broadcasting Authority, mentioned the incident of Oren Hazan, who made headlines worldwide, and said: "A member of the Knesset took a selfie with him and there were lies from some of the ministers. Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan wanted to show off and when he spoke with Trump he said, 'Today there was a traffic accident in Tel Aviv, and now we are checking into whether it had been deliberate.' He said this fully knowing that the police had previously announced that it was a car accident and not a terrorist attack. But Erdan learned from his master, Netanyahu, to lie and deceive."

MK Ahmad Tibi, of the Joint List, also commented on this, and tweeted: "A dignified welcoming ceremony for Trump in Bethlehem without embarrassments or humiliation."

At the Mukataa in Bethlehem, Trump met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. In his speech , Trump generally referred to the "peace" between Israel and the PA, but did not mention the two-state solution.

"As I discussed with President Abbas in Washington, I am committed to reaching a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians and I intend to do everything in my power to help them achieve this goal," said Trump.

"President Abbas assured me that he is ready to work for this cause, as does Prime Minister Netanyahu. I look forward to working with these leaders for a lasting peace. I also look forward to working with President Abbas on other matters such as cracking the Palestinians' economic potential. I was glad that President Abbas had committed himself to taking firm steps to fight terrorism. Peace can never take root in an environment where violence is tolerated, funded and even rewarded."

After the meeting, Abbas asserted that the key to peace is Palestinian freedom and independence.

He reiterated Palestinian position of accepting the two-state solution in the 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state and called on Israel to recognize the state of Palestine.

The Palestinian leader also claimed that "the conflict is not between religions. Respecting religions is an integral part of our faith. We want to get along with our Israeli neighbors."

He said the Palestinians "fundamental problem is with the occupation, the settlements, and Israel's failure to recognize Palestine."

"We want to build bridges instead of walls inside our lands," he stressed.

(Translated and edited by N. Elias)