Obama will not meet Netanyahu on US visit
President Barack Obama will not meet Israel's prime minister when he visits Washington in March, the White House said on Thursday, after being blindsided by the Republicans' invitation to Benjamin Netanyahu to address the US Congress on Iran.
Bernadette Meehan, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, said Obama was withholding an invitation for Oval Office talks with Netanyahu because of Israel's March 17 elections.
"As a matter of long-standing practice and principle, we do not see heads of state or candidates in close proximity to their elections, so as to avoid the appearance of influencing a democratic election in a foreign country," Meehan said in statement.
"Accordingly, the president will not be meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu because of the proximity to the Israeli election, which is just two weeks after his planned address to the US Congress."
