U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt on Monday refuted a report claiming that U.S. President Donald Trump was planning to rebuke Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York this week.
The report, which appeared in the Israeli newspaper Maariv on Sunday, claimed that White House officials were furious with Netanyahu for allegedly acting to stall the White House’s much-awaited peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians and for increasing security coordination with Russia.
Greenblatt said the report was “completely false.”
In a statement issued Sunday, Greenblatt said “the report in Maariv citing an unnamed source with respect to the upcoming meeting between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu in New York is completely false. Nothing could be further from the truth. I would note that no one from Maariv reached out to us for comment. Had they done so, we would have provided them an accurate preview of the meeting.
“The president and prime minister have a great working relationship, and relations between our two countries have never been better. The president looks forward to seeing the prime minister, and to having a positive and productive conversation on a broad range of issues.”
Along with Iran, Russia has supported Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces against rival rebel fighters, largely ensuring Assad’s continued rule.
Israel has consistently declared that it will not permit Iran to establish a presence in Syria and has launched numerous strikes to prevent Iran from entrenching itself there. Israel and Russia coordinate on security measures to prevent clashes between them.
