Politico

By LAURA ROZEN & JOSH GERSTEIN

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has abruptly canceled his plans to attend President Barack Obama’s nuclear security summit next week, creating an embarrassing distraction on the eve of a high-profile meeting the White House has sought to carefully choreograph.

An Israeli official confirmed Netanyahu’s decision not to attend, which was revealed by Israeli media outlets Thursday afternoon Washington time.

 “In the last 24 hours, the Israeli government has learned of various reports from various sources on the intention of several states attending the conference not only to deal with the issue at hand, but to take the opportunity to make a point of grand-standing against Israel and the issue of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty," the Israeli official said. "The prime minister was dismayed at this, and decided to stick to the Israeli policy that Israel is usually represented at these types of conferences at the professional-ministerial level.”

Another official, Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor, will head the Israeli delegation attending the summit on securing nuclear materials.

The White House said it welcomes Meridor’s participation. “Israel is a close ally and we look forward to continuing to work closely on issues related to nuclear security,” National Security Council spokesman Michael Hammer said. “This is a summit focused on addressing the security of nuclear materials and geared toward having the participants take practical measures to ensure that terrorists cannot get access to those materials.”

However, some analysts were skeptical about the official Israeli explanation since the potential for Israel to face such questions about its nuclear program has been widely known and openly discussed since Obama announced plans for the summit early last year.

Netanyahu’s about-face came as the New York Times and Washington Post published accounts suggesting that Obama was considering presenting its own detailed peace proposal to Israel and the Palestinians if so-called proximity talks the U.S. is trying to conduct fail.

“Having just had this brouhaha with Obama, and having failed to resolve it, Bibi may well be on the hook for an answer” to U.S. demands on the peace process, veteran U.S. Middle East peace negotiator Aaron David Miller said. “He decided basically I think to pass…He didn’t want another lecture from the Secretary of State.”

The crowd of Republican activists at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans Thursday night applauded loudly when told, by Liz Cheney, of Netanayhu's decision.

"President Obama is playing a reckless game if he continues down the path of diminishing America's ties to Israel," she said.