Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled a trip to Washington, D.C., citing the desire not to be entangled with U.S. election politics.
SRNNews.com reports that the White House claims the visit was cancelled
without their knowledge and that they learned of the cancellation
through Israeli media.
However, Zeev Elkin, an Israeli cabinet minister, denied the
allegation, saying that Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer had given the
Obama administration advance notice that the trip might be cancelled.
Netanyahu’s cancelled trip to the U.S. adds to frequently strained
relations between the conservative Israeli Prime Minister and Democratic
U.S. President. U.S.-Israeli relations became even more strained after
the Iran Nuclear Deal, a deal the U.S. signed with Israel’s enemy, Iran.
Netanyahu’s visit to the U.S. was supposed to occur directly before a
visit by Vice President Joe Biden to Israel. Biden will still be
visiting Israel, arriving there on Tuesday evening.
Netanyahu had hailed Biden’s visit as evidence of “the strong
relations” between the U.S. and Israel, but soon after, the
miscommunication over Netanyahu’s cancelled visit seemed to again
suggest strained relations between the two countries.
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