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Published 02:24 IST, November 15th 2019

Donald Trump says he can be leader of Israel, mocks PM Netanyahu

Donald Trump jokingly said that 'I could be Prime Minister of Israel very quickly' in a closed-door fundraising speech to a majority Jewish audience on Nov 12.

Reported by: Aanchal Nigam
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The United States President Donald Trump jokingly said that 'I could be Prime Minister of Israel very quickly'. He made the statement in a closed-door fundraising speech to a majority Jewish audience on November 12. When he was asked if his presidency would end, he replied that he will just move to Israel, and become that country's leader because the US 'works hard on Israel' and 98% of the audience members approve Donald Trump. He further said that if anything happens in Washington, he will take a trip to Israel. President Trump's comments ended up with laughter across the New York City hotel ballroom.

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Mocked Israel PM Netanyahu

In the same meeting, President Trump made fun of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his failure to form a coalition government even after two rounds of national elections in April and September. Donald Trump also mocked the kind of system Israel follows with all the 'fighting and fighting'. The US leader believes that it is hard for the country to move forward if they keep having elections while no one is elected. Israel PM Netanyahu and US President Trump are allies. While Trump shot an endorsement video before the 2013 parliamentary elections in Israel, a town is named after the US leader in the Middle Eastern country. 

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PM Netanyahu 'tried everything'

After the heated election in November, the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu said that he 'tried everything' but now has given up his efforts to form a coalition government. This has opened a possible path to power for his rival, former army chief of staff Benny Gantz. Netanyahu approached Gantz in order to get him on board for negotiation to form a broad national unity government and prevent another election. But time and again, Gantz refused. Immediately after PM's announcement, President Reuven Rivlin said that he would give a chance to Gantz in order to assemble a majority of lawmakers. This is also after a decade that someone else will take charge of the government other than Netanyahu and will reportedly get 28 days to achieve a coalition. 

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01:57 IST, November 15th 2019