Netanyahu Sparks Tensions With Germany With Threats To Cancel Meeting

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel is in the Middle East and had scheduled meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah in Ramallah. But it is Gabriel’s planned meetings with two dovish Israeli NGO’s, B’tselem and Breaking the Silence, sparked a diplomatic row. Israel’s Channel 2 television first reported that Netanyahu threatened to cancel his meeting with Gabriel unless the foreign minister passed on his meetings with the two NGO’s. Both organizations favor an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and have been critical of Netanyahu’s government. Gabriel responded that it would be “regrettable” if Netanyahu cancelled the meeting and called it a “completely normal” encounter. He also said it would “unthinkable” if a German official cancelled a meeting with Netanyahu for meeting government critics in Germany. It is Gabriel’s first visit to Israel since becoming foreign minister in January. The close ties between Israel and Germany have been strained by German concerns about Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank. Gabriel is expected to stress German support for a two-state solution, meaning an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem next to Israel.