A diplomatic spat between Israel and Mexico came to an end after the presidents of both countries had a phone call to smooth over ties.

Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin called Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto and emphasised “our ties are close and important” after the Mexican government objected to a tweet by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which they believed expressed approval for US President Donald Trump’s controversial plan to build a wall along the US-Mexico border.

The weekend tweet said, in reference to Israel’s border fence with Egypt which drastically reduced illegal African migration: “President Trump is right. I built a wall along Israel’s southern border. It stopped all illegal immigration. Great success. Great idea.”

In the phone conversation, described as ‘’extended and warm’’, President Rivlin told his Mexican counterpart : “I am very happy for the opportunity to speak with you. It is a very important conversation for us. Mexico and Israel have warm and good ties and we see this in our close cooperation in many fields.”

In relation to the current situation, the President sought to convey, “The security situation in Israel, and the entire Middle East, brought us to the important decision to build a fence on our southern border. We have no intention of comparing the security situation in the State of Israel, and the steps forced upon us, to the situation of any of our friends around the world.”

Rivlin added : “I am sure that nobody intended to compare between the situation of Israel, and the situation of Mexico - rather this was a misunderstanding. The ties between us are so very strong and important, and we must leave behind us any such misunderstanding. We share so much cooperation and I have no doubt that the future will only bring the strengthening of these ties. I am sorry for any hurt caused as a result of this misunderstanding, but we must remember that we are talking about a misunderstanding, and I am sure that we can put the issue behind us.”

The President stressed these strong ties were not just between states but between the peoples and between leaders who hold each other in great esteem.

He also spoke of the close connection between the State of Israel and the Jewish community in Mexico and said, “This wonderful community plays an important role in Mexican society and economy, and serves as a bridge between our two countries.”

The Mexican president thanked President Rivlin for his willingness to find a solution to the situation and said, “I want to tell you very clearly Mr. President, that Mexico has always been willing to have a very close relationship with your country. I do want to tell you that Mexico is more than willing to maintain this mutual cooperation. Unfortunately this cooperation has been hurt because of this tweet.”

He added that he was aware of the explanation given for the tweet, but said that its interpretation was inevitable. He said, “This of course obviously generated various reactions in Mexico, I am certain that you are aware of these reactions.”

Nieto also stressed that ‘’Mexico wants to continue being a good friend of Israel.”

On Tuesday, Netanyahu also attempted to clairified his comments.

“I did point out the remarkable success of Israel’s security fence,” Netanyahu said at the CyberTech conference in Tel Aviv. “But I did not comment about US-Mexico relations,” he said.

“We’ve had, and will continue to have, good relations with Mexico,” the prime minister said. “And I believe our ties are much stronger than any passing disagreement or misunderstanding. And in fact, I’ve had a long, fruitful and very friendly relationship with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and it will continue.”