News Digest

Trump scraps planned trip to Israel until ‘after I become president of the U.S.’

Donald Trump has scrapped a planned trip to Israel after his attack on Muslims entering the US ran into criticism from prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The outspoken Republican front-runner said he would reschedule the trip “at a later date after I become President of the U.S”. Later, he explained he cancelled the trip because he did not want to meet Mr Natanhayu while he was “under pressure”. The businessman and reality TV star added:  "I also did it because I’m in the midst of a very powerful campaign that’s going very well and it was not that easy to do. So I would say lots of different reasons.“

In fact, I did a campaign ad for him, and he’s a good man, but I didn’t want to put him under pressure.

Donald Trump on Benjamin Netanyahu

Mr Trump has faced a global backlash and allegations of stirring up religious hatred over his views on Muslims. Mr Netanyahu declined to cancel the visit on December 28 but rejected Mr Trump’s comments, adding Israel "respects all religions and strictly guarantees the rights of all its citizens”. Former world boxing champion Muhammad Ali joined the condemnation, saying: “I believe that our political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people’s views on what Islam really is.” In Britain, a petition calling for Mr Trump to be banned is set to become the largest of its kind, having already attracted more than 400,000 signatures.

True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so called Islamic Jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion

Muhammad Ali