1ST LEAD Report: Netanyahu tells ministers Trump ceremony attendance mandatory By Miranda Lee Murray, dpa

Tel Aviv (dpa) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered all his ministers to attend a welcoming ceremony for US President Donald Trump, Israeli media reported Sunday.The Israeli leader told Cabinet ministers that participation in the event scheduled for Monday morning at Tel Aviv‘s Ben Gurion airport was mandatory after several said they were planning to skip, Haaretz newspaper reported, citing a senior official.The ministers wanted to skip the event upon learning they would not be able to shake hands with Trump as they were earlier told, Haaretz reported. The US leader‘s team requested that the ceremony be cut short due to warm weather, the report added.The US leader departs Riyadh on Monday for Israel, where the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is expected to be one of the main talking points.Trump‘s Israel schedule has been in flux even as the hours ticked down before his expected arrival. Itinerary updates on Sunday included adding a visit by first lady Melania Trump to a local hospital and cancelling a dinner with Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Netanyahu had said earlier Sunday during a Cabinet meeting that he will discuss ways to promote peace in the Middle East during Trump‘s visit to Israel."We will strengthen security ties, which are strengthening daily, and we will also discuss ways to advance peace," said Netanyahu."I think there is a great possibility that we will make a deal," Trump said in an interview with the Israel Today newspaper published Friday. "I love the people of Israel, I am working very hard to finally have peace for the people of Israel and the Palestinians," Trump said.Trump‘s itinerary in Israel and the Palestinian Territories currently includes separate meetings with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as a visit to Jerusalem‘s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. He is set to continue on to Rome on Tuesday.He is also scheduled to give a speech at the Israel Museum in which, according to the Ynet news outlet, he is expected to share his vision for a peace process in the Middle East.The last round of peace talks, brokered by former US secretary of state John Kerry, failed in 2014.