Ben Carson became the second Republican presidential candidate to cancel a scheduled trip to Israel which was set for the end of December.
On Thursday, the Carson campaign announced it has decided to cancel a week-long planned foreign policy trip to Israel and several countries in Africa.
“We decided yesterday afternoon to cancel based on significant security concerns that we had to take seriously,” communications director Doug Watts told ABC News. “We just made a decision based on pertinence.”
Earlier this month Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump announced he will be traveling to Israel and meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on December 28. He canceled it a week later after Netanyahu publically rejected his call to ban Muslims entering the United States. Following Trump’s announcement, Carson announced he will be travelling to Israel for the 2nd time this year after coming under fire for his lack of foreign policy experience and a lackluster appearance at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Presidential Forum in DC.
The Israeli Prime Minister decided earlier this year on a uniform policy to agree to meet with all presidential candidates from either party who visit Israel and ask for a meeting. “This policy does not represent an endorsement of any candidate or his or her views. Rather, it is an expression of the importance that Prime Minister Netanyahu attributes to the strong alliance between Israel and the United States,” the PMO’s said in a statement earlier this month.
Carson visited Israel earlier this year but did not get to meet Netanyahu due to a scheduling conflict.
