Clinton and Trump to meet Netanyahu

Meetings could set the tone for future relations between Israel and next US administration

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump wre expected to meet separately with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday ahead of their first presidential debate tonight.

Netanyahu was expected to meet in New York with the presidential nominees of the two major parties in what could set the tone for future relations between Israel and the next White House administration. The Israeli leader has sought to project neutrality this time after perceptions arose that he favoured Mitt Romney over President Barack Obama in 2012.

The one-on-one discussions will follow what was likely Netanyahu’s final meeting with Obama last week, capping what has been a sometimes rocky relationship between the leaders of the two allies.

The Obama administration has opposed Israel’s push to expand colonies in the West Bank while Netanyahu has been a leading critic of the US nuclear agreement with Iran. More recently, Netanyahu has urged Obama to avoid pushing for a Palestinian state in his final months in office.

Clinton has supported a negotiated two-state solution in the region, vowed to enforce the Iran nuclear agreement and help defend Israel’s security. She suggested in an interview with Israel’s Channel 2 earlier this month that Daesh was “rooting for Donald Trump’s victory” and he had helped strengthen the hands of extremists by his provocative statements about Muslims.

Trump has been a fierce critic of the Iran nuclear agreement and promised during a speech to American Israel Public Affairs Committee earlier this year that he would deepen ties between the two countries if he was elected president.

The meetings come after the US recently completed a $38 billion (Dh139.57 billion) military aid package for Israel.