The White House on Wednesday failed to confirm a presumed meeting between US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York next week.
It has been expected that Netanyahu would speak with Biden on the sidelines of the high-level portion of the opening session of the 78th United Nations General Assembly.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was pressed about whether such a conversation would occur during a press briefing.
“I have no meetings to speak to at this point,” Kirby said.
Current Israeli politics have strained the US-Israel relationship
US Presidents have traditionally invited Israeli Prime Ministers to the White House after an election. Netanyahu, however, has yet to receive such an invitation since he returned to office at the end of December.
Biden’s refusal to invite Netanyahu to the White House due to tensions over the government’s judicial reform plan and extremist statements by members of his coalition has been a diplomatic low point for the Prime Minister.
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