Netanyahu and Pena Nieto
Netanyahu and Pena NietoAvi Ohayon/GPO

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday thanked Mexico's President, Enrique Pena Nieto, and its Foreign Minister, Luis Videgaray, for siding with Israel at the UN.

“Thank you President of Mexico @EPN and Secretary of Foreign Affairs Videgaray for refusing to go along with one sided anti-Israel resolutions at the UN. Deeply value your friendship,” tweeted Netanyahu.

There was a brief period of tension between Israel and Mexico at the beginning of the year, after Netanyahu wrote on Twitter, “President Donald J. Trump is right. I built a wall along Israel's southern border. It stopped all illegal immigration. Great success. Great idea.”

The comment appeared to have been a direct response to comments made by Trump himself in an interview on Fox News, in which he cited Israel’s use of border fences and other barriers to block terrorists and reduce illegal immigration from the Sinai desert as proof that the border wall with Mexico could work.

Nevertheless, Mexico which objects to the border wall, responded with anger and issued a sharp rebuke of Netanyahu’s comment.

Netanyahu later clarified that he was not interfering in Mexico's affairs and that he had merely commented on Trump's praise of the fence Israel constructed on its southern border with Egypt.

Netanyahu visited Mexico in September and met with Pena Nieto, in what was the first visit by an Israeli prime minister to the country.

During the meeting, Netanyahu said, “Mexico is a great country. It's one of the world's great economies, it's a great nation, a great people, a great culture. We want to be close, even closer to Mexico, and this is what this meeting signifies.”

Several weeks after Netanyahu's visit, several powerful earthquakes hit Mexico, killing over 400 people. Israel sent an aid mission to the earthquake stricken country.