Obama Refuses Netanyahu's Request For Meeting Claiming "Full Schedule"; Announces Appearance On Letterman

Originally, the Obama administration claimed it was inaccurate for the Israeli press to be reporting that Obama refused to meet with Netanyahu during the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. However, Bloomberg reports that Israeli officials claim Obama was approached by the Israelis "two weeks ago to see if it would be possible for Netanyahu to meet Obama, as he has on every other visit to the U.S. The response was that the president’s schedule wouldn’t permit a meeting, the official said today in a telephone interview. Obama is in the middle of campaigning for a second term in the Nov. 6 election. Obama will be at the UN on Sept. 24-25 and Netanyahu won’t arrive until later in the week, Vietor said. While the president’s UN schedule 'is not finalized yet,' Obama has no planned bilateral meetings with leaders of other nations, he said. While Netanyahu will be in the U.S. for a short time, the Israeli official said that could have included a trip to Washington to accommodate an Obama meeting."

The president will, however, be chatting with the "Late Show" host David Letterman during a trip to New York City next week, according to the National Journal.

The meeting was to discuss growing tensions between the U.S. and Israel over how to deal with the Iranian nuclear threat. Obama opted for continuing the unprecedented tension with Israel. Tweet