Relations between Jerusalem and the White House are not what one would call a romance, even after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Bar Ilan Address. While it is obvious the meeting was canceled over the row surrounding Israel’s insistence to continue construction in yishuvim throughout Yehuda and Shomron (settlements), US State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly released a statement explaining the Thursday meeting in Paris was canceled to permit him to first meet with Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who is meeting with Mitchell on Monday.

The Barak meeting was unplanned and there appears to be a political turmoil over US President Barak Obama’s determination to halt settlements while the current Israeli administration is unwilling to accept such a dictate. Mitchell and the White House view Barak, the Labor Party leader, a moderate voice in the cabinet, who seems to have become the de facto go-between between Washington and the Prime Minister’s Office.

Mr. Netanyahu is in Europe for high-level meetings, sending the message that construction in yishuvim to accommodate natural growth is reasonable and necessary.

An aide to the prime minister released a statement on Wednesday morning that Israel canceled the meeting, not Mitchell, explaining additional date must be prepared before the two meet.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)