President Donald Trump blasts Israel’s “weak, pathetic president,” accuses Israel’s head of state of lying to him about pardon for Prime Minister Netanyahu.By David Rosenberg, World Israel NewsPresident Donald Trump confirmed over the weekend that he is planning to visit Israel next month, during Israeli Independence Day.Israeli media outlets earlier this month reported that the Israeli government has assessed that Trump will accept an invitation extended in February by Education Minister Yoav Kisch to receive the Israel Prize in person during an Independence Day ceremony on April 22.An internal memorandum circulated by the Education Ministry was cited by the reports, indicating that the government is preparing for the president to visit.On Sunday, Channel 14 published an interview with the president in which Trump confirmed that he is tentatively scheduled to visit Israel next month.When asked whether he will visit Israel to accept the Israel Prize in person, the president responded: “Yes, it looks like it.”The Education Ministry decided in late December to award Trump with the Israel Prize, marking the first time in the prize’s history that a non-Israeli has been selected for the honor.During his interview with Channel 14, Trump slammed his Israeli counterpart, President Isaac Herzog, calling him “weak” and accusing Herzog of lying to him repeatedly regarding Trump’s request that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be granted a presidential pardon, allowing him to focus on foreign policy matters.“Your weak president won’t pardon him?” Trump asked during the interview. “He told me many times—not once—that he would pardon him, and he lied to me. He is a weak and pathetic person, not a leader. Bibi should focus on the war, not on nonsense.”This is not the first time Trump has publicly criticized Herzog.After calling on Herzog last October to pardon Netanyahu, and penning a letter reiterating the request, Trump has repeatedly chided the Israeli president.In response, Herzog has said that he will only rule on the pardon request submitted by Netanyahu once it has gone through the traditional review process.By law, the President of Israel may grant a pardon without external review.The post Trump confirms plans to visit Israel on Independence Day appeared first on World Israel News.