With no White House invite forthcoming, Netanyahu poised to meet with Biden this month at sidelines of United Nations General Assembly.
By World Israel News Staff
President Joe Biden will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly later this month, Israeli diplomatic officials told the Times of Israel.
According to a report published by TOI Thursday night, the two leaders will meet on September 21st, marking the first face-to-face between the president and the prime minister since the latter returned to office last December.
Biden has thus far declined to invite Netanyahu to the White House, a snub that has continued, even amid reports of a lower-profile planned meeting between the two in New York.
The White House and the Prime Minister’s Office both declined to comment on the report. Last month, both Israel and the U.S. confirmed that Biden and Netanyahu had plans to meet at some point in time, without giving details on the timing or location.
The diplomatic sources cited in Thursday’s report did not mention whether Netanyahu would be invited to the White House during his visit to the U.S. later this month, and a stay-over in Washington would be complicated by the upcoming Yom Kippur holiday, which begins on Sunday, September 24th.
If invited to the White House during his upcoming trip to the U.S., Walla reported, Netanyahu would be forced to remain in the U.S. during the preceding Shabbat, which begins on the 22nd, the day after the likely meeting with Biden.