JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu removed US President Donald Trump from the photo of his Twitter account on Tuesday in an apparent breach with a political ally facing possible impeachment.
A photo of Netanyahu sitting next to Trump at a meeting at the White House has long held a prominent place in @netanyahu’s official account, testimony of the Israeli conservative leader’s close ties to the Republican president and his popularity in Israel.
On Tuesday morning, another photo, showing Netanyahu being injected with the coronavirus vaccine, topped the page, along with the slogan of Israel’s inoculation campaign: “Citizens of Israel, we are coming back to life”.
Netanyahu kept the photo of his meeting with Trump, long in tune with him about a tough policy towards Iran and the Palestinians, on the website, even after the Republican president’s defeat to Democrat Joe Biden in the American elections in November.
The photo was briefly replaced by a Hanukkah holiday-themed image last month, raising speculation in the media that Netanyahu has decided to distance himself from Trump.
But when the eight-day Jewish festival ended, Trump reappeared – though no longer alone with Netanyahu in a photo.
Instead, Netanyahu posted a banner image of himself with the president and foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signing an agreement at the White House in September on formalizing ties with Israel.
No explanation was given on Netanyahu’s website for Trump’s disappearance, the day before the United States House of Representatives started considering his second impeachment after the Capitol invasion last week.
Trump’s own account was permanently suspended by Twitter on Friday due to what the social media giant described as the risk of further incitement to violence.
In televised comments on Thursday, Netanyahu called events on the Capitol “fury” and said he was certain that American democracy would prevail.
(Reporting by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)