Netanyahu claims snub by Gabriel
BERLIN: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he tried to telephone Germany’s foreign minister to clear the air after cancelling talks during Sigmar Gabriel’s visit to Israel, but the German minister would not take the call.
Netanyahu cancelled his planned talks with Gabriel on Wednesday after the minister met groups critical of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
The dispute threatens to widen a rift between Israel and Germany over the Palestinian issue. Berlin has been increasingly critical of the settlement policies of Netanyahu’s rightwing Government in occupied territory Palestinians seek for a state.
Netanyahu, who is also Israel’s foreign minister, said he had tried to patch things up with Gabriel.
‘‘I wanted to telephone Foreign Minister Gabriel to explain my position and to clear things up, but he would not take the call,’’ he told the daily Bild.
‘‘I hope Gabriel meets me on his next trip to Israel, rather than a radical fringe group that undermines Israel’s security.’’
On Monday, an Israeli official had said Netanyahu would not see Gabriel if he met Israeli group ‘‘Breaking the Silence’’.
The organisation collects testimony from Israeli veterans about the military’s treatment of Palestinians in the Israelioccupied West Bank.
‘‘I do not welcome diplomats from other countries who visit Israel and meet organisations that call our soldiers war criminals. That is the reason why the meeting did not take place,’’ Netanyahu said.
Gabriel, a Social Democrat who has spoken publicly about his rift with his late father, a convinced Nazi, visited the Middle East to press for a twostate solution to the IsraeliPalestinian conflict.