- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Tuesday it would be “regrettable” if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called off a meeting between the two in Israel, as he threatened to do if the foreign minister met with an Israeli rights group.
Gabriel said it would be a “remarkable event, to put it mildly,” if Netanyahu canceled their planned talks, arguing it was normal to talk to civil society representatives.
“Imagine if the Israeli Prime Minister … came to Germany and wanted to meet people critical of the government and we said that is not possible … That would be unthinkable,” he told Germany’s ZDF television.
A German foreign ministry spokeswoman had said the minister was due to meet civil society groups but declined to identify them.