Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declined an offer to meet U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House later this month and canceled his trip to Washington, the White House said on Monday.
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“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”, said National Security Council spokesman Ned Price.
On Monday, the White House said it was surprised to learn from the media that Netanyahu had turned down an invitation to meet with Obama on March 18th. He’s calling the move surprising.
Besides, if mid-March was such a politically perilous time, why did Israeli officials request this White House meeting in the first place?
Biden is considered the “good cop” of the Obama administration when it comes to Israel and, unlike Obama who does not have any particular sentiments towards Israel, Biden is considered someone who has warm sentiments towards Israel and, also unlike Obama, towards Netanyahu himself.
The second possibility is that Obama will give a speech in which he presents the US vision for a solution to the core issues of the conflict: borders, security, the return of refugees and the division of Jerusalem.
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.
In recent months, however, the U.S. and Israel had sought to reaffirm the strength of their ties.
Zeev Elkin, an Israeli cabinet minister close to Netanyahu denied the Obama administration had been caught off guard, saying Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer had given the White House advance warning the trip might not happen. Last year, the White House accused Netanyahu of a breach of longstanding diplomatic protocol when he announced plans to speak to a joint session of Congress without consulting or notifying the president.
Talks are also expected to include discussions on a new, 10-year defence aid package for Israel, now worth some US$3.1 billion (Dh11.4bn) annually in addition to spending on projects such as missile defence, illustrating the importance of Israel’s relationship with the US.
Biden will meet with Netanyahu and later in the day he will travel to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
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The White House has said that Mr Biden will not be pursuing any major new peace initiatives during his visit, even though a wave of violence since October has killed more than 200 people. The two sides are seeking an extension before Obama leaves office in January 2017.
