Obama will not meet with either Prime Minister Netanyahu or Defense MInister Barak during their upcoming visits to NY.

Tensions between Israel and the current U.S. administration further deteriorated last week when President Barack Obama refused to meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu during his upcoming visit to New York, where he will address the UN General Assembly.

The White House insisted that the meeting would not take place due to the president’s pressing “campaign obligations” which would take him out of New York.

Obama has further snubbed Israeli leaders by refusing to meet with Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who will also be in New York next week, WND news station reported.

Barak is scheduled to attend the 2012 Clinton Global Initiative, an annual summit of high-powered political and business leaders scheduled to overlap with the U.N. General Assembly.

While the President has not cited any pressing “campaign obligations” that would take him out of New York during Barak’s visit, he has, nonetheless, refused a meeting, WND reported.

While Obama will not meet any Israeli leader during their visits to New York, he will, however, find time to meet with Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi.

The president is also expected to meet Libya’s new prime minister, Mustafa Abushugar, though the meeting has not yet been announced, according to WND.

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is also expected to attend the Clinton summit and efforts are reportedly underway to arrange a meeting between the GOP nominee and both Netanyahu and Barak, during their time in New York.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is set to address the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, September 26, which falls out on Yom Kippur.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/160131#.UFs-LJWuXwz