Netanyahu cancels meeting with German Foreign Minister

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a meeting with Germany's Foreign Minister after he decided to meet with NGOs opposed to the occupation of Palestinian territories, an official said.

Netanyahu canceled his meeting with Sigmar Gabriel after the German statesman met with representatives of the Breaking the Silence NGO, an activist group composed of former Israeli soldiers critical of the government's actions in Palestinian territories, Efe news reported on Tuesday.

"I can confirm that the meeting has been cancelled," said spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister's office Ofir Gendelman.

Speaking to German TV earlier, Gabriel said that it would be lamentable if the Israeli head of government were to cancel a meeting in reaction to his decision to hold talks with the NGOs.

Further, he said it would be inconceivable that a German minister would ever cancel a meeting because an Israeli statesperson had decided to meet a group of people critical of the German government.

He added, however, that if Netanyahu did cancel the meeting, it would not be a catastrophe or change Israeli-German relations.

Israel's president Reuven Rivlin did meet with Gabriel, saying that "relations between Germany and Israel had never been easy, nor would they ever be".

According to Israeli TV, Netanyahu had warned Gabriel not to hold discussions with Breaking the Silence.

Gabriel did not heed the warning, and also met with activists from the NGO Betselem.

--IANS

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