Donald Trump Mexico Wall Plan: Israel PM Pledges Support; Former Israel Ambassador Thinks U.S. President is 'Squeezing' Him Hard
United States president Donald Trump found a supporter in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with regard to his plan to put up a wall in Mexico.
Netanyahu took to his personal Twitter account to back Trump up about his Mexico wall plan and accompanied the controversial post with icons of the Israel and America flags.
"President Trump is right. I built a wall along Israel's southern border. It stopped all illegal immigration. Great Success. Great idea," he tweeted.
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It did not take long for the post to receive major criticism from users especially after Trump retweeted the post, increasing the exposure of the tweet.
Among the thousands who expressed disdain over Netanyahu's comments is the Mexican government itself, who released a statement showing their disappointment over the Israeli prime minister's stand on the matter.
"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," they said. "Mexico is a friend of Israel and should be treated as such by its Prime Minister," they went on to say.
Dan Shapiro, a former Israel ambassador under the Obama government, questioned what Netanyahu's motives were in sending out the tweet and what's in it for the Israeli prime minister, believing Trump is "squeezing Netanyahu hard."
"Hard to explain this intervention on a hotly debated issue in domestic US politics. Unless this endorsement is Trump's demand of Netanyahu for something Netanyahu wants," he said.
Many oppose Trump's Mexico wall plan including the mayor of Berlin, who pleaded the U.S. president not to push through with it.
Trump's disposition on the matter is quite hazy though with budget for the actual building of the wall yet to be settled. It is said that he plans to make Mexico pay for it with 20 percent tax on imports from countries like Mexico.
This is basically the use of the destination-based cash flow tax, which has its own set of complications as this is slated for use by Congress for the tax reform.
Fortune says that Trump may simply be acting "irrationally" on the matter and has no concrete plan on how to pay for the Mexico wall.
