Benjamin Netanyahu
Photo: Moshe Ben Gershom, GPO
US President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday evening – 2 am (GMT) and Netanyahu's media advisor, Nir Hefetz, tells Ynet that "saying that there was a near-crisis brewing simply isn’t true."
The atmosphere ahead of the meeting, he stressed, "Is relaxed. We're gearing for a long political day, which will culminate with a meeting in the oval office."
US Visit
News agencies
Ending days of uncertainty, White House announces meeting between US president, Israeli prime minister to be held in Washington on Monday evening. Administration offers no immediate information about what will be on their agenda
Hefetz agreed that announcing the two heads of state will meet was delayed, but dismissed it as simple scheduling matters: "The prime minister announced he was going to speak at the GA conference in the US weeks ago.
"Since this year the conference happens to be taking place in Washington, he expressed his wish to use this opportunity to meet Obama and discuss ways to advance the peace process. Yes, the White House answered us a little late, but describing the situation as if a crisis was brewing simply isn’t true."
The Prime Minister's Office said that during the Washington visit, Netanyahu is scheduled to meet 25 senators, both democrats and republican, as well as the head of the House Subcommittee on Iran. "It's business as usual," said a source in the Prime Minister's Office.