Israel’s Netanyahu to meet Trump, Clinton in NY

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to meet with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in NY on Sunday, officials involved in planning the meetings told NBC News.

Israel is a principal USA ally and often a main topic in US presidential politics.

As reported earlier on JOL, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat down today (Sunday) with Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump.

Trump said “peace will only come when the Palestinians renounce hatred and violence and accept Israel as a Jewish State”, the campaign said in the statement.

Netanyahu met privately with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for more than an hour at Trump Tower in NY on Sunday morning. At the heart of the troubled relationship has been Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as The Iran Deal.

Trump also repeated his pledge to move the USA embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv if he’s elected to the White House. But in December 2015, Trump postponed a trip to Israel to meet with Netanyahu after the prime minister’s office criticized his proposal to temporarily ban Muslim immigrants – in the aftermath of several terror attacks inspired or executed by radical Islamic terrorists.

The Trump and Clinton meetings come as both White House hopefuls seek to convince voters they are best prepared to represent the US on the global stage.

Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a trusted campaign adviser, and Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, attended the meeting. As a result, the U.S. and most other countries maintain embassies instead in Tel Aviv, although the U.S. Congress has periodically tried to move it.

Donald Trump met Sunday with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, discussing such key issues as the Iran nuclear deal, Middle East stability and problems that the Islamic State terror group has created in the region, according to the Trump campaign. “The Prime Minister also thanked Mr. Trump for his friendship and support of Israel”.

“The prime minister’s instruction was clear – if we meet with one side, we must also meet with the other side”, the senior official said.

Netanyahu and Obama met Wednesday night following the U.N. General Assembly, in what was likely their last meeting with Obama as commander-in-chief.

Netanyahu has kept a low profile during this election cycle.

During the 2012 race for the White House, US officials criticised Netanyahu over his perceived support for Republican candidate Mitt Romney.