President Obama unable to meet with Israeli PM Netanyahu

I don't have all the details outside of the statement that came out today.  Since the Haaretz article is premium only, I'm linking to the JTA one instead.

I'm not sure exactly why President Barack Obama is unable to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the PM comes to the United States for the United Nations General Assembly in a few weeks.  Outside of logistics, that is.

I know that the president is going to be busy campaigning and prepping for the debates with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.  That goes without saying.  I'm hoping that is the reason why the president is unable to meet but I cannot say with 100% accuracy that that is why.  It's a guess at best.

Here is what we do know according to the statement released to Jewish media.

“The President arrives in New York for the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, Sept. 24th, and departs on Tuesday, Sept. 25th. The Prime Minister doesn’t arrive in New York until later in the week. They’re simply not in the city at the same time," Tommy Vietor, National Security Council spokesman, said in a statement released Tuesday. "But the President and Prime Minister are in frequent contact and the Prime Minister will meet with other senior officials, including Secretary Clinton, during his visit."


A White House official told JTA that Obama's schedule is packed and that he is not scheduled to have any bilateral meetings at the General Assembly.

All of that now said, tensions relating to Iran are getting heated at the moment.  I don't blame the PM for being upset.  I honestly don't.  At some point, the United States will have to press the international community for a deadline.  The USA cannot just sit idle on this.  The leadership has to step up to the plate.

Everyone has their eye on Iran.