Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits down with his staff prior to his address at the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, September 22, 2016. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet on Sunday with presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in New York, as part of his trip to the US which also included a meeting with President Barack Obama on Wednesday, a UN General Assembly address Thursday and a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry Friday.
The meetings with the rival nominees, who are running neck-and-neck according to recent polls, will take place separately in New York on Sunday and will come one day before the two are set for their televised debate.
The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed Friday night that the meetings will take place, as did the Clinton campaign. The Trump campaign followed suit hours later.
A senior Israeli official in New York said Thursday that neither Clinton nor Trump had asked to meet with Netanyahu, according to a Bloomberg report.
Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton (JTA/Drew Angerer/Getty Images) and Republican rival Donald Trump (JTA/Christopher Gregory/Getty Images)
The official told Bloomberg that Netanyahu has so far avoided meeting either candidate to avoid accusations made during the 2012 presidential campaigns that he was interfering in US politics.
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Netanyahu was widely seen as favoring then Republican nominee Mitt Romney, hosting him in Jerusalem just three months before the vote. However, Netanyahu’s advisers noted that Israel hosted then-candidate Barack Obama with similar warmth in 2008, when Ehud Olmert was prime minister.
Benjamin Netanyahu (right) hosts Mitt Romney in Jerusalem, July 29, 2012 (Israel Sellem/GPO/Flash90)
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