An Israeli advance team had already traveled to Texas to prepare for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned meeting with billionaire Elon Musk, but the team has now been told that the visit is off. According to Israeli officials, the decision to cancel the meeting was made by Netanyahu.
The Texas stop had from the outset been described as a complicated logistical undertaking, since Netanyahu’s aircraft cannot fly nonstop from Israel to Texas and would have required a refueling stop in the United States.
Beyond canceling the meeting with Musk, Netanyahu is also expected to significantly shorten his entire visit to the United States. Under the current plan, he is likely to spend only a few hours in New York and return to Israel immediately after addressing the annual United Nations General Assembly.
Rather than arriving in New York on Wednesday, speaking Thursday and then returning to Israel, Netanyahu is now expected to land in the United States only on the morning of his speech, deliver his address at 2 p.m. local time, 9 p.m. in Israel, and depart shortly afterward.
Netanyahu and Trump
(Photo: GPO)
The visit would be unusually brief compared with Netanyahu’s previous trips to the United States. Despite efforts by Netanyahu’s aides, no meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump is currently scheduled during the visit. U.S. officials said this weekend that Netanyahu was not among the leaders on Trump’s current UN General Assembly meeting schedule and cited scheduling constraints. Netanyahu’s office has said the prime minister’s itinerary is still being finalized.
Had a meeting with Trump been arranged, Netanyahu was prepared to alter his schedule accordingly.
Trump, who has met Netanyahu several times since returning to the White House, is due to address the General Assembly on Tuesday. Under the current schedule, he is expected to leave New York before Netanyahu arrives.
The UN General Debate is scheduled to run from September 22 through September 28, with Netanyahu expected to speak on Thursday, September 24.
Senior Trump administration officials also said Saturday that a Trump-Netanyahu meeting on the sidelines of the gathering was unlikely because of the two leaders’ schedules. Another U.S. official said Netanyahu’s presence in the United States was expected to be particularly limited as Israel approaches elections.