Leading Israeli commentators slam Trump for premature victory claim

Channel 12’s Amit Segal, one of Israel’s leading political reporters known for his right-leaning views, says he would prefer Donald Trump to win the election, but slams his premature victory speech.

“Like most Israelis, I’d be very happy if Trump will be the president of the United States,” he writes on Facebook. “But his speech this morning was his most embarrassing since he entered politics.” Trump is trying to disenfranchise millions of Americans whose votes haven’t been counted, Segal charges.

“That was scary.”

“What we just witnessed is a terrible moment for the republic,” tweets Nadav Eyal of the rival Channel 13. “If the president is really going to the Supreme Court (for what?), even before the votes were counted, the whole concept of leadership change is shattered.”

Eyal notes that Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence, didn’t back that stance.

— with Raphael Ahren