(Politico).Secretary of State Hillary Clinton believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s last-minute decision to skip this week’s nuclear arms summit in Washington wasn't a snub, laughing it off as akin to President Barack Obama’s 11th-hour scrapping of his long-planned Asia trip last month.
“Well, the Indonesians and the Australians thought it was kind of abrupt when the president called up and said, ‘Oh, by the way, I'm not coming on this long-planned trip,’ ” said Clinton, laughing, in a reference to Obama’s decision to postpone his visit on the eve of the historic health care vote in Congress last March.
“But the Israeli government will be represented at a very high level And you know, they are – they share our deep concern about nuclear terrorism,” said Clinton, appearing with Defense Secretary Robert Gates in a taped interview that aired Sunday on NBC's “Meet the Press.”
“And they want to be at the table as we try to figure out how we're going to make the world safer,” she added.
“Well, the Indonesians and the Australians thought it was kind of abrupt when the president called up and said, ‘Oh, by the way, I'm not coming on this long-planned trip,’ ” said Clinton, laughing, in a reference to Obama’s decision to postpone his visit on the eve of the historic health care vote in Congress last March.
“But the Israeli government will be represented at a very high level And you know, they are – they share our deep concern about nuclear terrorism,” said Clinton, appearing with Defense Secretary Robert Gates in a taped interview that aired Sunday on NBC's “Meet the Press.”
“And they want to be at the table as we try to figure out how we're going to make the world safer,” she added.