Prime Minister Benjamin will not meet with Pope Francis I this week, a diplomatic source told the French news agency AFP Sunday.
Last
Wednesday, Netanyahu’s office issued a statement announcing that the
prime minister would be meeting with the pope at the Vatican this
Wednesday and separately with Secretary of State John Kerry in Rome to
discuss nuclear talks with Iran and the ongoing peace talks with the
Palestinians.
However, the AFP source said that there were
no plans for the meeting, pointing out that meetings with the pope
typically had to be scheduled further in advance.
Netanyahu’s office declined a request for a comment.
The meeting would have been Netanyahu’s first
with the current pope, who met with Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas last Thursday at the Vatican and with President Shimon
Peres in April.
Netanyahu met with the previous pope, Benedict XVI, in 2009, as well as with Pope John Paul II in 1997.
Netanyahu met with the previous pope, Benedict XVI, in 2009, as well as with Pope John Paul II in 1997.
Abbas and Peres both invited the pontiff to
Israel and the Palestinian territories, and Francis has said he would
like to visit the Middle East.
Israel’s Channel 2 reported last Sunday that
the pope had scheduled a trip for March, but the Vatican has yet to
confirm that that’s the case.