US officials cancel dinner with Israel’s Lieberman

American officials, who will today begin an official visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, cancelled a dinner hosted by the Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, local media reported yesterday.

Due to be held this evening at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, the dinner which would have included US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner was cancelled for “logistic reasons”.

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According to the Israeli media, the dinner was planned to coincide with another banquet at the house of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Donald Trump and his wife.

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Arab48 reported senior sources in the Israeli defence ministry saying that the dinner was cancelled in order not to distract the sight of mass media from the celebrative dinner scheduled at Netanyahu’s house. Instead a meeting will be held between the officials.

However, the Jerusalem Post reported that the cancellation was the latest in a series of mishaps before Trump’s arrival in Israel.