Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Who's On First? Or, Is That Last?

I'm breaking this story up, or is that I'm deconstructing it?

1)

Special US envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell has called off a meeting scheduled for Thursday in Paris with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the backdrop of the ongoing dispute over West Bank settlements.


2)

Defense Minister Ehud Barak is expected to leave for Washington for an unplanned meeting with Mitchell on Monday in order to mediate.


3)

The Prime Minister's Office. however, clarified Wednesday morning that Israel was the one to cancel the meeting.

According to a senior official on Netanyahu's entourage to Rome, "Israel is the one that called off the meeting with Mitchell due to the need to collect data and present them to him in an organized manner. The claim that the Americans canceled the meeting due to a disagreement is unfounded."


4)

According to the official, "The French confirmed this yesterday in a preparation talk ahead of the prime minister's arrival, and said that the Americans informed them that Mitchell would not arrive following an Israeli request."


5)

US State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly said that Mitchell's meeting with Netanyahu had been cancelled in order to give the special envoy an opportunity to meet with Barak. He added that Washington hoped to advance discussions on a variety of issues during Monday's meeting.


Does it make sense?

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