Germany’s foreign minister and vice-chancellor refused to take a call from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he cancelled a scheduled meeting.
Sigmar Gabriel arrived in Israel on Monday and was due to meet Mr Netanyahu while in the region. But the Israeli PM called off the meeting today after Mr Gabriel refused to respond to an ultimatum.
According to officials in Mr Netanyahu’s office, he had demanded Mr Gabriel not meet representatives of left-wing groups B’Tselem, which documents human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories, and Breaking the Silence, a non-government organisation which publishes testimonies of veterans from the Israeli Defence Force to shed light on the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.
German diplomats refused to bow to the pressure and insisted the meetings would go ahead as planned.
