Washington snubs Israeli minister of military affairs

The Obama administration has rejected the Israeli military affairs minister’s requests to meet several high-ranking officials during his five-day visit to the United States this week.

News ID: 60799

Date: 25 October 2014 - 12:00

Moshe Ya'alon met with US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power.

But the White House and State Department reportedly refused Israeli proposals for meetings with Vice President Joe Biden, National Security Advisor Susan Rice, and Secretary of State John Kerry.

Ya’alon has been critical of Kerry’s efforts to forge a peace deal between Tel Aviv and Palestinians.

Earlier in the year, he called Kerry’s efforts for Israeli-Palestinian peace “messianic and obsessive.”

In response, the State Department lashed out at Ya'alon for making “offensive and inappropriate” comments about Kerry.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that the remarks are "offensive and inappropriate especially given all that the US is doing to support Israel's security needs."

In a recent interview, the controversial minister said the borders of several Middle Eastern countries are bound to change in the future as a result of recent developments in the region.

Ya’alon added that the borders of some countries in the region were artificially drawn by the West.

He did not say whether the borders of Israel, also drawn by Western powers after World War I, would change or not.

Source: PressTV