Mexican Jews Welcome Netanyahu — Despite Backing For Trump’s Wall
Image by getty images
Mexico’s Jewish community was caught in the cross-hairs this January when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the idea of the United States building a border wall along its southern frontier. But eight months later, the controversy has past, and the community is eagerly anticipating a visit from the Israeli premier.
“It’s all in the past, and it was all settled as a misunderstanding,” Moises Romano Hafif, head of the Mexican Jewish community, told Haaretz. “As a minority, we are extremely happy that he is visiting Mexico… It means a lot that he is stopping by on his way to the United States.”
Mexico is home to 40,000 Jews, and Netanyahu will pass through on a tour of Latin America, which is also bringing him to Brazil and Argentina. The country is Israel’s second-largest trading partner after Brazil.
Netanyahu ignited an international furor when he endorsed President Trump’s border wall idea – with Mexicans expressing outrage at the statement, and the Mexican Jewish community publicly declaring its disagreement.
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
