Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has decided to postpone a trip to Europe planned for next week. Mr. Netanyahu was scheduled to meet in Paris with French President Nicolas Sarkozy but it appears the meeting was set for the same day that US President Barak Obama is delivering his address from Cairo. The following day, Obama is scheduled to arrive in Paris. Netanyahu requested a meeting with Sarkozy on the eve of the US president’s visit.

France came out strongly opposed to recent statements released by the prime minister regarding Israel’s right to continued sovereignty over an undivided Jerusalem, prompting the decision to push off the visit.

In the meantime, the White House has announced that President Obama will be arriving in the region a day early, on June 3rd, making a stopover in Saudi Arabia to discuss the Iranian threat and Mideast peace efforts. This will be the second meeting between the American leader and King Abdullah. The two met previously at the G20 summit in London.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)