Ben Carson cancels trip to Israel

Carson was supposed to arrived on December 27 and then continue on to Kenya, Zambia and Nigeria.

By HERB KEINON
US Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks at a campaign event in Pahrump, Nevada (photo credit: REUTERS)
US Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks at a campaign event in Pahrump, Nevada
(photo credit: REUTERS)
US Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson announced on Thursday the cancellation of a trip to Israel and three African states, just a week after leading Republican candidate Donald Trump nixed a trip to Jerusalem following his controversial comments about Muslims.
According to The Washington Post, Carson, who was in Israel for the first time last December, had scheduled a trip here on December 27. From here he was to continue on to Kenya, Zambia and Nigeria.
According to the Washington Post, Carson’s campaign spokesman Doug Watts issued a statement saying the “trip has been canceled due to significant security concerns.” The statement did not spell out what those concerns were.
Carson and Trump are the two Republican candidates who have so far been assigned a secret service detail.
Carson was scheduled to meet in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the premier’s policy being to meet with all presidential candidates coming to Israel, Republicans and Democrats alike.
The PMO heard about the cancellation in the media.
Carson, a retired neurosurgeon whose position in the polls has steadily declined, has come under fire for his lack of foreign policy experience and expertise. His coming trip was considered a way of burnishing those credentials. Carson traveled to Jordan at the end of November and visited a Syrian refugee camp.