Did Melania Just Slap Donald’s Hand Away On Israel Red Carpet?

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By Dave Goldiner May 22, 2017

Did Melania Trump just send a not-so-subtle message to the Donald?

The First Lady was caught on tape apparently trying to avoid holding hands with her hubby as they arrived at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, strode along holding hands, as they often do along the tarmac.

President Trump, walking alongside them, reached out to grasp the First Lady’s hand. But video circulated on Twitter appeared to show Melania Trump briefly flicking his hand away.

Sara Netanyahu later offered sympathetic words to the Trumps, telling them that people still loved them despite negative media coverage.

“The majority of the people of Israel, unlike the media, they love us, so we tell them how you are great and they love you,” Sara said to Trump and his wife.

Trump then interjected: “We have something very much in common.”

Netanyahu and his wife have a tense relationship with the Israeli media, which they have both described as biased against them.

Testifying in a libel suit the Netanyahus filed against an Israeli journalist, Sara Netanyahu told the court: “Everything that is published about me, it’s all lies, evil lies that bear no connection with who I really am.”—With Reuters

Dave Goldiner is the Forward’s director of digital media. Dave is a veteran journalist who has spent two decades working at newspapers in the United States and Africa. A native New Yorker, Goldiner wrote for the New York Daily News, where he covered some of the biggest stories of our time, including the attacks of September 11, along with thousands of stories of hope and heartbreak. He also studied and worked in Southern Africa and has written for publications in South Africa and Zimbabwe. He holds masters degrees in journalism and public administration from Columbia University. Dave can be reached at goldiner@forward.com, or follow him on Twitter @davegoldiner

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