U.S. presidential candidates were meeting separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday, on the eve of their first presidential debate.

Netanyahu met privately with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for more than an hour at Trump Tower in New York on Sunday morning. Netanyahu was also scheduled to meet later in the day with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Trump and Netanyahu discussed “at length” Israel’s use of a fence to help secure its borders, an example Trump frequently cites when he’s talking about the wall he wants to build between the U.S. and Mexico.

Trump’s campaign said the candidate also promised to recognize Jerusalem as “the undivided capital of the State of Israel.”

Such a move would be a major reversal of U.S. policy since the founding of Israel in 1948. The status of Jerusalem is a highly contentious issue between Israelis and Palestinians. The U.S. has its embassy in Tel Aviv, and officially does not recognize Jerusalem as a part of any country.

The meetings will help serve to showcase the candidates’ expertise in foreign policy ahead of their first debate Monday night in suburban New York City, six weeks before Election Day.

 
…