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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to Twitter on Saturday to offer President Donald Trump praise over his idea to build a wall on the southern U.S. border with Mexico.
"President Trump is right. I built a wall along Israel's southern border. It stopped all illegal immigration. Great success. Great idea," Netanyahu tweeted along with American and Israeli flag emojis.
President Trump is right. I built a wall along Israel's southern border. It stopped all illegal immigration. Great success. Great idea 🇮🇱🇺🇸— Benjamin Netanyahu (@Benjamin Netanyahu) 1485618945.0
Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order instructing the federal government to begin building the wall, in addition to hiring thousands of new Border Patrol agents.
Building a wall on the border in an effort to thwart illegal immigration, drug trafficking and terrorism was a central promise of Trump's winning campaign, both during the Republican primaries and again during the general election.
However, during the primaries Trump often claimed that he would force Mexico to pay for the wall. In reality, it appears that taxpayers will be on the hook for the wall, which is expected to cost $15 billion to complete.
Trump is also expected to personally oversee the wall's construction, according to Robert Costa of the Washington Post:
Trump has told his aides that the wall remains a top priority and he will personally oversee aspects of the project/construction.— Robert Costa (@Robert Costa) 1485312843.0
More from The Hill:
In an interview earlier this week with Fox News’s Sean Hannity, Trump used Israel’s wall as a point of reference as he advocated for his wall plan.
“Look, the wall is necessary. That's not just politics, and yet it is good for the heart of the nation in a certain way because people want protection. And a wall protects. All you have to do is ask Israel,” Trump said. “They were having a total disaster coming across, and they had a wall. It's 99.9 percent stoppage.”
Israel's southern wall was built because they were facing an influx of African immigrants traveling through Egypt seeking political asylum and refuge in the Jewish State. The influx of migrants caused a spike in crime and put a large burden on Israel's health care system, in addition to other social problems.
Most of the immigrants traveling across the U.S.-Mexico border are from Central America and are coming to the U.S. to escape the violence and drug wars currently plaguing their countries.
