“Surprised.” It’s what happens when people have had enough of being treated horribly. Good for Bibi.
May God bless and keep Israel safe always.
The White House said Monday it was “surprised” to learn through press reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had declined an invitation to meet President Barack Obama later this month in Washington.
An aide to Obama said that Netanyahu’s office had requested a sit-down between the two leaders on March 17 or 18, and that the White House responded two weeks ago offering March 18 as a meeting date. That’s just ahead of Obama’s planned trip to Cuba.
“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. “Reports that we were not able to accommodate the Prime Minister’s schedule are false.”
Netanyahu’s visit would have coincided with the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference, a meeting of pro-Israel advocates in Washington where Netanyahu often speaks. His office indicated Monday he would deliver remarks to the conference via video conference instead.
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 an icy relationship that reached its nadir one year ago when Netanyahu traveled to Washington to lobby against Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, including addressing the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. 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 U.S. capital.
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Leaders don’t meet for chitchat. Presumably Netanyahu had a specific agenda in mind in the original request for a meeting, and something happened — maybe some response or signal from Obama, or maybe something else in the world — that rendered the meeting superfluous or worse from Netanyahu’s perspective. Without knowing the behind-the-scenes details, I don’t know what to make of this.
Maynard, here ya go:
Report: Obama to use UN to divide Jerusalem
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/209083#.Vt7XcvkrJ1s
And another reason why GOPe, must be smashed! Obama can do this because Iran nuke deal is done, sanctions lifted, money dispersed. If GOPe, had stood strong that Iran nuke deal was a treaty, not passed Corker bill, Obama wouldn’t have the advantageous position that he has now. But NO, GOPe wanted sanctions lifted for their donors and can’t see what will come next.
Hmmm. That would be very ugly if true. I wouldn’t put anything past Obama, but this seems a stretch even for him. It has concerned me, though, to hear Jewish people blame the rift entirely on Republicans and Netanyahu, and entirely dismiss Obama’s anti-Semitic history (his church declared Zionism to be oppressive racism and actively organized BDS) or America’s new “balanced” (anti-Israel) orientation.
BiBi is wise to dismiss Obama & cancel . After Iran Deal what is there to gain ? & agree that there must be some intelligence that cued him to stay home .