Obama Schedule: Thursday, September 27, 2012

9:30 am || Receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
10:00 am || Departs White House
11:05 am || Arrives Virginia Beach, Virginia
11:50 pm || Deliver remarks at a campaign event; Farm Bureau Live, Virginia Beach
1:00 pm || Departs Virginia Beach
2:10 pm || Arrives White House

When Netanyahu requested a meeting, Obama claimed his busy schedule didn’t allow for it.

The White House declined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request on Tuesday to meet U.S. President Barack Obama during a UN conference in New York at the end of the month.

An official in Jerusalem said that the prime minister’s office sent the White House a message stating that although Netanyahu will spend only two and a half days on U.S. soil, he is interested in meeting Obama and is willing to travel to the U.S. capital specifically for that purpose. The official added that the White House rejected the request and said that at this time Obama’s schedule does not allow for a meeting.

The White House’s response marks a new low in relations between Netanyahu and Obama, underscored by the fact that this is the first time Netanyahu will visit the U.S. as prime minister without meeting the president.