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WASHINGTON — The already-frosty relations between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turned to solid ice yesterday when the White House nixed Bibi’s request for a face-to-face meeting at the UN General Assembly later this month.
Netanyahu had sought the parlay as the two nations grapple over the looming threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, Israeli officials said yesterday.
After news of the snub sparked outrage, Obama, in an apparent effort at damage control, placed an hourlong call to Netanyahu last night to discuss Iran.
Earlier in the day, Netanyahu had made a blistering attack on US policy on Iran.
“The world tells Israel, ‘Wait, there’s still time.’ And I say, ‘Wait for what? Wait until when?’ ” he said.
“Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don’t have a moral right to place a red light before Israel.”
The White House insisted those tough words didn’t spark the initial cold shoulder.
“The president arrives in New York for the UN on Monday, Sept. 24 and departs on Tuesday, Sept. 25. The prime minister doesn’t arrive in New York until later in the week,” said Tommy Vietor, a White House spokesman.
“They’re simply not in the city at the same time. But the president and PM are in frequent contact and the PM will meet with other senior officials, including Secretary [Hillary Rodham] Clinton, during his visit.”
Israeli officials indicated that Netanyahu was willing to travel to Washington for a meeting. But Vietor last night denied that such a request was ever made, or rejected by the White House.
There have been signs of a split between the nations over what to do about Tehran’s uranium-enrichment program. Israel has hinted at taking military action, fearful that a delay would let Iran develop a nuclear weapon — while reminding the world that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said he’d like to see Israel wiped off the map. But the Obama administration seeks more time for tougher sanctions to work.
“This has got to be one of the most dysfunctional relationships in the history of the US and Israeli relationship,” Aaron David Miller, who has advised five presidents on Israel and other Middle East issues, told The Post.
“I find it extraordinary in the extreme that both an Israeli prime minister and an American president would not see one another at this moment,” he continued. “Number One, the whole discussion of red lines, assurances and what to do about Iran requires a long conversation between these two.
“Even if they don’t have it, they need to appear to be in sync.”
The rejection of a meeting with Netanyahu could play out on the US political stage in November. Obama has sought to downplay a chilly relationship with the Israeli leader and concerns among Jewish voters that his administration doesn’t have Jerusalem’s back.
Obama and Netanyahu clashed in the spring of 2011 after the president called for negotiations over Israeli boundaries “based on 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps.”
Netanyahu lectured Obama in an Oval Office photo-op following one of their nine meetings together, calling those lines “indefensible.”
There is talk in Israel that Netanyahu might launch a strike against Iran before the election because Obama would be pressured to go along. Either Obama or Mitt Romney could try to put the brakes on an attack after November.