White House: Netanyahu Did Not Accept Invitation to Meet Obama

On Monday, March 7, the White House announced that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not accept the invitation to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama. According to Reuters, Ned Price, a White House spokesperson, stated, 'We expected to host a bilateral meeting, but we were surprised to learn through Israeli media reports that the Prime Minister (of Israel) canceled his trip (to Washington) instead of accepting our invitation.' The spokesperson added that Israeli media claimed we said we could not coordinate with Benjamin Netanyahu's proposed schedule for this meeting, which is incorrect. However, Ned Price clarified that the Israeli government had requested to hold this meeting on March 18 or 19, to which March 18 was proposed in response two weeks ago. Reuters reports that the Israeli Prime Minister's office has not yet responded to reports in the Israeli media regarding the cancellation of Benjamin Netanyahu's trip to Washington. In this context, 'Channel 10' in Israel also cited a source in the Israeli government stating that Mr. Netanyahu canceled his trip to Washington because he did not want to meet with candidates for the U.S. presidential election and to avoid any suspicion of interference in U.S. domestic issues. Netanyahu was supposed to visit Washington in March to meet with Barack Obama and speak at the Israel-American Relations Committee meeting, AIPAC, which is considered the main pro-Israel lobbying group in the U.S. Last March, the Israeli Prime Minister spoke against the nuclear deal with Iran during his appearance in the U.S. Congress. Benjamin Netanyahu did not meet with the U.S. President during his trip last year. However, in November of last year, Benjamin Netanyahu met with Barack Obama at the White House. According to Reuters, Joe Biden, the U.S. Vice President, who is on a five-day trip to the Middle East, will meet with Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to Israel later this week.