Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray demanded that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu apologize Monday for supporting US President Donald Trump's plan to build a wall on the US-Mexico border on his Twitter page.
Videgaray said that the Prime Minister's tweet "felt like an aggressive act," adding "We hope that the Israeli government will have the sensitivity to correct Netanyahu's statement."
The Israeli ambassador to Mexico, Yoni Peled, was summoned by the Mexican Foreign Ministry Monday over the tweet.
The Mexican Foreign Ministry issued a statement Saturday condemning the Prime Minister's tweet. "The Foreign Ministry expressed to the government of Israel, via its ambassador in Mexico, its profound astonishment, rejection and disappointment over Prime Minister Netanyahu's message on Twitter about the construction of a border wall.”
"Mexico is a friend of Israel and should be treated as such by its Prime Minister," the Ministry added.
Prime Minister Netanyahu downplayed the crisis in Israel-Mexico relations Monday, saying that the media had blown the issue out of proportion and that he had merely commented on President Trump's praise of the fence Israel constructed on its southern border with Egypt.
"President Trump praised the fence which was built under my guidance on our border with Egypt. He said it almost completely stopped illegal infiltration into Israel. And I said in response that he was right. And in response he retweeted the things I said. The media commentators have blown it out of proportion." Netanyahu said.