Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that, as far as Israel was concerned, it didn’t matter who wins the upcoming US presidential election.
“Both Clinton and Trump talk about their support of Israel, and the importance of the ties between the two countries,” Netanyahu told reporters. “It doesn’t matter which of them will be elected, the support for Israel will remain strong, the alliance will remain strong, and will even get stronger in the coming years.”
Netanyahu had recently returned from a visit to New York for the UN General Assembly. While there, he met separately with both of the American presidential candidates.
During a heated televised debate , Trump made reference to his sit down with Netanyahu, insisting that the Israeli leader was none too happy with the Iran nuclear agreement that Clinton had helped put in motion during her time as secretary of state.
“This is one of the worst deals ever made by any country in history,” said Trump. “I met with Bibi Netanyahu the other day. Believe me, he is not a happy camper.”
Clinton responded by claiming that “when I became secretary of state, Iran was weeks away from having enough nuclear material to form a bomb,” and that the deal in question had succeeded in “putting a lid on Iran’s nuclear program.”
Besides that brief exchange, Israel was never directly referenced in the debate, which is something of a change of pace for these campaigns.
Originally posted at Israel Today Magazine.
