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 Monday.
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An Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly, said Netanyahu wanted to avoid meetings with presidential candidates.
It had offered to host Netanyahu on March 18 during a planned visit by the premier for the annual conference of pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been making intensive diplomatic efforts to boost the overall value of the package to $50 billion and is not prepared to accept less than $40 billion. That day, Israeli news reports erroneously reported that Netanyahu would not travel because he was unwilling to meet with Obama.
But he said the White House would have preferred to hear of the cancellation from the Israeli government rather than through media reports.
However, there have also been reports the Obama administration is considering setting parameters for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal to make it easier for Obama’s successor to pursue.
The episode was just the latest sign of frosty relations between the two leaders on the eve of US Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel.
“Ever since Obama has entered the White House, there has been a devastating erosion of America’s posture of deterrence, which has been bad for America but doubly so for America’s allies throughout the world, but especially in the wildest neighborhood in the whole world, which is the Middle East”, Ettinger said.
Zeev Elkin, an Israeli cabinet minister close to Netanyahu, countered that Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer had given the White House advance warning the trip might not happen.
The Israelis are seeking $4.5 billion annually from Washington; the U.S.is targeting a figure of about $3.7 billion. “However, the ambassador also informed the White House that there is a good chance that the prime minister would not be coming to Washington and that a final decision would be taken on Monday after he had met with the prime minister”.
Mr Obama and Mr 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.
Biden arrived Tuesday for a brief visit to Israel.
“It’s a tumultuous primary season in the United States. we don’t want to inject ourselves into that tumultuous process”, the official said.
The visit by Biden is expected to focus on a new ten year USA military aid package for Israel.
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The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded in a statement that “politicians in Israel refuse to recognize that the best and shortest route to ensure stability and security… is to end the occupation and to recognize the rights of the Palestinian people”, echoing a statement released by the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday night following a meeting between PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Biden in Ramallah.
