Benjamin Netanyahu, currently in New York, has been asked to attend a private meeting with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Sunday morning.

According to local reports, after the Trump campaign team spoke to Mr Netanyahu’s staff on Friday to arrange the one-to-one, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office then lodged an identical request with the Clinton campaign in a bid to avoid the appearance of favouring the GOP candidate.

The meetings with both candidates, which will be closed to the press, will take place on Sunday.

The rival nominees are due to take part in the first televised presidential debate of the campaign on Monday, to be held at New York’s Hofstra University.

Mr Netanyahu was in New York this week to address the United Nations General Assembly’s 71st session. He met President Barack Obama on Wednesday, likely to have been the last meeting between the two feuding leaders before Mr Obama leaves office in January. Mr Netanyahu met US Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday.

Meanwhile, according to Haaretz, Mr Kerry attacked Israel at a private meeting in New York last Monday over its policy in the West Bank. The comments came at a closed meeting of ministers representing the countries providing financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority.

Mr Kerry repeatedly raised his voice, saying that Israel and the Palestinians were moving towards a binational state and with that, war.

He warned the international community that if they wanted to speak out on this issue, “Either we mean it and we act on it, or we should shut up.”