The White House has denied an Israeli TV report that it has stopped updating Israel on the Iran nuclear talks in retaliation for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's scheduled address to Congress, according to
Ynet News.
The Israel
Channel 2 report claimed that U.S. Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman said she will no longer be giving updates to Israel about the talks. The report also says that National Security Adviser Susan Rice will be cutting ties with Netanyahu's National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen.
Ynet News said the White House called the report "patently false," and that Rice maintains regular contact with Cohen "on the full range of issues of mutual concern to our nations, and will in fact meet with him later this week at the White House."
The U.S. State Department said Secretary John Kerry "continues his conversations with Prime Minister Netanyahu about this issue, as has always been the case," according to Ynet.
The Obama and Netanyahu administrations have never been on terms as good as Netanyahu has with Republicans, and that relationship with Obama was strained further after GOP House Speaker John Boehner invited Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress on the danger of a nuclear Iran.
That speech is scheduled for March 3, and several Democrats, including Vice President Joe Biden, have said they will not attend. Obama also will not meet with Netanyahu during his visit, citing how close the visit come to Israeli elections.
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