BICOM

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday explicitly rejected US Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s suggestion that Muslims should be barred entry from the United States. Netanyahu’s response comes as it was confirmed that Trump will visit Israel later this month.

A number of politicians have expressed their strong objection to Trump’s visit in light of his comments. 37 of the 120 Knesset members have signed a petition calling on Netanyahu to cancel his meeting until Trump retracts his comments. The petition has been signed mainly by opposition MKs, but also two from the coalition, Yaakov Margi of Shas and Roi Folkman from Kulanu. Omer Bar-Lev of the Zionist Union said via social media, “As far as it depends on me, this racist … should not be welcome in the Knesset.”

Trump announced that he would visit Israel on 28 December, but a statement from Netanyahu’s office said that the trip was arranged two weeks ago, prior to Trump’s controversial comments. The statement made clear that, “Prime Minister Netanyahu rejects Donald Trump’s recent remarks about Muslims.” It added that, “The State of Israel respects all religions and strictly guarantees the rights of all its citizens. At the same time, Israel is fighting against militant Islam that targets Muslims, Christians and Jews alike.”

Although it was confirmed that Trump would meet with Netanyahu during his visit, Netanyahu’s office made clear that this was in line with “a uniform policy” decided earlier this year, “to agree to meet with all presidential candidates from either party who visit Israel and ask for a meeting.” Netanyahu was accused of favouring Republican candidate Mitt Romney in 2012 and is reportedly keen to appear as neutral as possible during the upcoming campaign. The statement emphasised that, “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.”