The White House said the prime minister’s office had proposed two dates for talks with Mr Obama and that one of them worked with the president’s schedule.
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An American tourist was killed and at least ten others wounded, four seriously, in terrorist stabbing attacks perpetrated by the same individual at two locations in Jaffa, the port city located just south of Tel Aviv.
The attack took place as Biden was meeting with former Israeli President Shimon Peres.
“We were looking forward to hosting the bilateral meeting”, White House National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement Monday.
Fox News reported the newspaper Haaretz, an Israeli media outlet, cited sources who are close to Netanyahu as saying “no appropriate time” could be settled upon to hold the meeting. Netanyahu’s office said it then informed the White House directly that Netanyahu would not be visiting.
Reports in Israeli media and on CNN said Netanyahu was wary of being caught up in an especially bitter USA election year contest, one in which support for Israel has been a particularly contentious issue.
“On Monday, news reports suggested that the PM would not be travelling to Washington and erroneously stated that the president was unwilling to meet with the PM”, the statement said.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee had invited Netanyahu to address its conference, taking place this year in Washington from March 20-22.
Mr Obama personally brokered an apology phone call from Mr Netanyahu to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, during a visit to the region in 2013.
Mr Biden’s last visit in 2010 was marred by the announcement of a Jewish settlement plan during his trip.
His visit this time comes with Mr Obama having acknowledged that there will be no comprehensive agreement between Israelis and Palestinians before he leaves office in January 2017.
Mr Abbas is expected to tell Mr Biden that the Palestinian people and their semi-government, the Palestinian Authority, are at breaking point as time passes without any prospect of a peace deal with Israel.
Since U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s failed effort two years ago, Obama’s aides have repeatedly cast doubt on prospects for a successful restart of the peace process during Obama’s final months in office.
Israel rejects an imposed formula and says any outline of a peace accord has to be reached through direct negotiations.
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After his visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, Biden will travel to Jordan.
