Bibi cancelled meeting with Obama not US: White House
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu skipped a March meeting with US President Barack Obama, says the National Security Council spokesperson.
The White House had actually sent an invitation to the Israeli premier two weeks ago for the meeting scheduled for March 18, Ned Price said in a statement on Monday.
US authorities initially learned of the cancellation through media reports, added the National Security Council spokesperson.
“We were looking forward to hosting the bilateral meeting, and we were surprised to first learn via media reports that the prime minister, rather than accept our invitation, opted to cancel his visit,” Price said.
According to Israeli media, Bibi was supposed to arrive in the US on March 20, the day Obama is set to travel to Cuba following a historic deal between the two countries.
American and Israeli authorities negotiated to make the sit-down happen on March 18, but could not reach any appropriate time, according to Israeli media.
“Reports that we were not able to accommodate the prime minister's schedule are false,” Price said.
The Israeli prime minister has been a vocal critic of the P5+1 group’s nuclear deal with Iran and has focused on derailing it, causing great resentment within the White House.
Ties have been further strained over Netanyahu’s resistance to the creation of a Palestinian state, which has been a key element of the Obama administration’s foreign policy.
The office of US Vice President Biden announced Wednesday that he will be meeting with Netanyahu in his Middle East tour that includes Jerusalem al-Quds as well as the West Bank city of Ranmallah.
Apart from Bibi, Biden will sit with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.
The tour will also cover the United Arabic Emirates and Jordan.
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