US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waves to the crowd at a Pearl Harbor Day rally aboard the USS Yorktown Memorial in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, December 7, 2015. (Reuters Photo)
Under fire for anti-Muslim remarks, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said today he was postponing a planned trip to Israel because he didn't want to put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump had been scheduled to meet with Netanyahu on December 28, but changed his plans after his call for a ban on Muslims entering the United States met with a chorus of international condemnation.
Netanyahu's office said the prime minister "rejects" Trump's remarks, and stressed that the planned talks were in line with the Israeli leader's practice of meeting US candidates visiting Israel.
"I have decided to postpone my trip to Israel and to schedule my meeting with @Netanyahu at a later date after I become President of the US," Trump said in a tweet.
Speaking on Fox News, Trump explained, "I didn't want to put him (Netanyahu) under pressure," while recalling he had done a campaign ad for the Israeli leader.
"I have a lot of Israel friends, and a lot of support, a lot of friends from Israel and a tremendous amount of support from the people of Israel."
US presidential candidates often visit Israel while campaigning as part of efforts to shore up their foreign policy credentials.
Beyond that, Netanyahu has regularly expressed support for Republicans, and Republican candidates have made firm US backing for Israel a central foreign policy plank of their campaigns.
But the Trump visit had already stirred strong opposition in Israel, with a range of lawmakers opposing it because of his comments about Muslims.
Obama 'worst thing' for IsraelToday, Trump sought to deflect attention with barbed remarks about President Barack Obama relations with Israel.
"Believe me, I think that the worst thing that ever happened to Israel happened to be Barack Obama," he said on Fox News.
On CNN, he claimed, "I'm doing good for the Muslims."
Trump called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States after last week's mass shooting in California by a Muslim couple said to have been radicalized.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Trump's proposal ban should disqualify him from the presidency, deriding him as a "carnival barker" with "fake hair" whose campaign belonged in the "dustbin of history."
The billionaire real estate magnate currently leads Republican polls by double digit margins over his nearest rivals.
But when an array of Republican leaders criticized his Muslim remarks virtually en masse, Trump warned he may launch a third party campaign.
Trump insisted on Thursday, however, such a move was "highly unlikely."
"Look, it's very simple. I'm leading in every poll. I can't make them up," Trump said on Fox News.
"But, my deal would be they treat me fairly and I'm going to treat them fairly. I don't want to leave.
"I mean, did you ever hear of a Republican leading by 20 and 22 and 25 points, and all of a sudden I'm going to say 'Oh, I'm going to return as an independent?' It doesn't work that way. No, I'm running -- I'm running as a Republican."