Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump hinted Thursday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu secretly agrees with his recent statements regarding the need to block Muslims from entering the US.
“He disagrees with me. I doubt he actually does,” Trump said in a telephone interview with The Wall Street Journal, after announcing he is calling off a December 28 trip to Israel.
The trip, he said, was being put off because of the demands of his presidential campaign, not because Netanyahu repudiated his call to ban Muslims from entering the US.
“I just decided I wanted to wait,” Trump said.
Trump told Fox News on Thursday that he is “postponing” the planned trip to Israel and rescheduling a meeting with Netanyahu until “after I become President of the US.”
“I didn’t want to put him under pressure,” he said. “I also did it because I’m in the midst of a very powerful campaign, that’s going very well, and it was not that easy to do.”
Netanyahu’s office had confirmed that the prime minister was scheduled to meet Trump, but also said Wednesday afternoon that “Prime Minister Netanyahu rejects Donald Trump’s recent remarks about Muslims.”
“The State of Israel respects all religions and strictly guarantees the rights of all its citizens,” it said. “At the same time, Israel is fighting against militant Islam that targets Muslims, Christians and Jews alike and threatens the entire world.”
“As for the meeting with Mr. Trump that was set some two weeks ago, the Prime Minister decided earlier this year on a uniform policy to agree to meet with all presidential candidates from either party who visit Israel and ask for a meeting,” the statement read. “This policy does not represent an endorsement of any candidate or his or her views. Rather, it is an expression of the importance that Prime Minister Netanyahu attributes to the strong alliance between Israel and the United States.”
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