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 The White House said on Monday it was "surprised" to learn first
from Israeli media that Netanyahu had decided against coming to a
conference of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC in Washington on March 20,
and the suggestion in some reports that among his reasons was
Obama's unavailability to see him.
Zeev Elkin, an Israeli cabinet minister close to Netanyahu,
countered that Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer had given the White
House advance warning the trip might not happen.
It was the latest episode in a fraught relationship between the
right-wing Israeli leader and Democratic U.S. president that has yet
to recover from deep differences over last year's U.S.-led
international nuclear deal with Israel's foe Iran.
 Biden, whose 2010 visit to Israel was marred by acrimony over a
Jewish settlement plan announced during his trip, arrives later in
the day for talks on Wednesday with Netanyahu in Jerusalem and
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank.
With violence surging for the past five months, U.S. officials have
said no peace breakthrough is expected during Biden's visit.
In Jerusalem on Tuesday, a 50-year-old Palestinian woman who tried
to stab Israeli police officers was shot dead, a police spokeswoman
said.
Since October, Palestinian stabbings, shootings and car rammings
have killed 28 Israelis and an American. Israeli forces have killed
at least 174 Palestinians, 116 of whom Israel says were assailants.
Most others were shot dead during violent protests.
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Netanyahu has hailed Biden's visit as a sign of Israel's "strong
relations" with the United States.
Within hours, however, a flap erupted with the White House, which
said that contrary to media reports, Netanyahu had been offered a
March 18 meeting with Obama, ahead of the president's landmark Cuba
visit on March 21 and 22.
Netanyahu's office said on Tuesday he would not attend the AIPAC
event and voiced appreciation for Obama's willingness to host him.
It said Netanyahu was reluctant to be drawn into the U.S.
presidential campaign, where candidates have been vying to assert
their bona fides as friends of Israel.
In 2012, Netanyahu hosted then-Republican contender Mitt Romney in
Israel in what many Democrats saw as a bid to undercut Obama's
second-term run. Israel denied meddling.
(Additional reporting by Dan Williams; Editing by Dominic Evans)
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