A tweet by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that praises US President Donald Trump’s plan to build a border-wall with Mexico to keep out illegal immigrants, has brought about a strong rebuke by the Mexican government against Israel. Netanyahu’s tweet on Saturday morning made a comparison between Trump’s plan to construct a wall to the wall built by Israel along its southern border with Egypt, which according to the Israeli leader: “it stopped all illegal immigration.”
The comment was swiftly rejected by leaders of the Jewish community in Mexico, and prompted an unusually blunt statement from Mexico’s foreign ministry, reading: “The Foreign Ministry expressed to the government of Israel, via its ambassador in Mexico, its profound astonishment, rejection and disappointment over Prime Minister Netanyahu’s message on Twitter about the construction of a border wall. Mexico is a friend of Israel and should be treated as such by its Prime Minister.”
Meanwhile, Israeli Officials in Jerusalem are trying to minimize the damage following Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statement. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon wrote on his Twitter account that the prime minister had not expressed a position regarding the relations between the United States and Mexico, rather, Netanyahu responded regarding Israel’s security experience in building its own wall on its southern border, an experience Israel is willing to share.