WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has canceled his trip to Washington this month, surprising White House officials who said they had been scheduling a meeting with President Obama.
The incident is just the latest outward sign of tension between the two leaders, who also missed out on a meeting a year ago as Netanyahu addressed a joint meeting of Congress to voice his opposition to the Iran nuclear deal. The White House said a meeting then wouldn't have been appropriate because it was just two weeks before Netanyahu faced a re-election bid.
This year, the White House officials said they had extended an invitation and couldn't explain the cancellation.
"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 a statement from Ned Price, the spokesman for the National Security Council. "Reports that we were not able to accommodate the prime minister's schedule are false."
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Monday that Netanyahu canceled after Washington and Tel Aviv were unable to agree on a mutually agreeable date. But Price said the Israeli Government had requested a meeting of the two leaders March 17 or 18. The White House had offered March 18 — two days before Obama's trip to Cuba and Argentina when the trip was canceled.
Netanyahu was also scheduled to speak to the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, a conservative, pro-Israel lobbying group that's holding its annual policy conference in Washington March 20-22. AIPAC said Netanyahu is a confirmed speaker, but will address the conference via satellite.
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