Donald Trump speaking at the 2016 AIPAC Policy Conference. Image by Getty

By Naomi Zeveloff May 18, 2017

Team Trump is causing chaos for Israeli officials as they prepare for the U.S. president’s first visit to Israel, according to a report in the Israeli news site Ynet.

The American team sent to Israel is “considered junior, lacks the authority to make decisions and frequently changes its mind,” said Ynet. The Israelis have chalked up the lack of organization to “first visit symptoms.”

The biggest problem is last minute changes to Trump’s itinerary. Trump was originally planning to speak at Masada, the ancient desert fortress that is a highly nationalistic site in Israel. Team Trump changed the visit from Tuesday to Monday of next week because of predicted hot weather, and then scrapped the Masada speech altogether. Trump will speak at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem instead.

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Israelis and Americans disagreed over the pomp around Trump’s landing at the airport. The Israeli team proposed a an airport reception with speeches by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump, but the Americans were “resolutely opposed” to the idea, proposing quick handshakes and the Israeli and American national anthems.

Contact Naomi Zeveloff at zeveloff@forward.com or on Twitter @naomizeveloff

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