Photo: DPAIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to cancel talks set for Tuesday with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel over the visiting diplomat's plan to also meet rights groups critical of Israel's government. An Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed reports that Netanyahu threatened to cancel the meeting if Gabriel also met with Israeli rights groups Breaking The Silence and B'Tselem. "We are learning through the Israeli media that Prime Minister Netanyahu, whom I have frequently met, wants to cancel this meeting because we want to meet critical representatives of civil society," Gabriel told German public television station ZDF. Gabriel added that it would be "unthinkable" to cancel a meeting with Netanyahu if he met critics of the German government during a visit to Germany. In February, Israel reprimanded the Belgian ambassador after the country's prime minister, Charles Michel, met with B'Tselem and Breaking The Silence during a visit to Israel.

Source: The Local April 25, 2017 07:07 UTC