The White House, responding Monday to anonymously sourced reports in Israeli media that Netanyahu was declining to visit, revealed for the first time on Monday that it had offered Netanyahu a meeting on March 18, at Israel’s request.
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National Security Council spokesperson Ned Price said the White House extended an invitation two weeks ago to Netanyahu for a March 18 meeting with Obama, following a request from the Israeli government.
Netanyahu was scheduled to arrive in the USA on March 20, the same day Obama is set to leave for his trip to Cuba.
Netanyahu’s visit in Washington would have coincided with the annual conference of pro-Israeli lobby AIPAC in which he has previously participated.
“Reports that we were not able to accommodate the prime minister’s schedule are false”, Price said.
The White House said on Monday, March 7, that it was “surprised” Netanyahu spurned President Barack Obama’s invitation for talks later this month and said it had first learnt of it through news reports.
The Embassy of Israel declined to comment on the White House’s characterization of the invitation or whether a communication breakdown occurred in conveying an RSVP.
Obama and Netanyahu have had a rocky personal relationship, worsened by the Israeli premier’s forceful opposition to the Iran nuclear deal, including in a speech to the US Congress. During his visit, the White House declined to schedule a meeting between the two leaders, saying the Israelis broke protocol by not consulting with the administration before traveling to the US capital. In the past he has sometimes spoken to the group via satellite.
Obama and Netanyahu did meet in November. Current U.S. defense aid to Israel, worth about $3 billion annually, expires in 2018.
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A senior Israeli official earlier cited Tuesday’s upcoming visit to Israel by US Vice President Joe Biden, and fears that the prime minister could inadvertently become entangled in the American presidential campaign, as likely reasons for the decision to skip the AIPAC confab. The two sides are seeking an extension before Obama leaves office in January 2017.
