Israeli News Source: US Officials tried to Block Israeli Defense Minister’s Meetings in DC

The Israeli news source YNet is reporting that the Obama administration tried to prevent Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon from meeting with US officials during his recent trip to Washington. The news site said requests to see Vice President Joe Biden; Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Adviser Susan Rice were all turned down. Ya’alon was allowed to see UN Ambassador Susan Rice, but that meeting was limited to the Ambassador’s criticism of Israeli building policy in east Jerusalem rather than on the defense issues the minister sought to discuss. Ya’alon’s meeting with his counterpart, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hegel was apparently unaffected by the tensions between the Israeli and American administrations. Aside from the ongoing friction perceived to exist between Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and American President Barack Obama, Ya’alon has his own history of friction with the US administration after calling SecState Kerry “messianic” and “obsessive” relative to his peacemaking efforts between Israel and the Palestinians.