Netanyahu not attending Trump inauguration

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not attend the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, quashing earlier reports that he had been invited to attend.

Netanyahu was not invited to the inauguration in Washington, DC, and leaders of foreign countries do not usually attend US presidential inaugurations, the Israel Hayom daily reported on Thursday, citing the Prime Minister’s Office.

Earlier this week, Netanyahu canceled his trip scheduled for January 18 to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, leading to further speculation that he might be planning to attend the inauguration.

The Prime Minister’s Office also said in a statement that the cancellation of Netanyahu’s participation in Davos, where he was scheduled to speak and had meetings planned, had nothing to do with a police investigation into possible bribery and fraud charges.

The cancellation fueled rumors that Trump staffers, led by son-in-law Jared Kushner, were “aggressively courting” the prime minister in an effort to persuade him to attend the January 20 ceremony.

Netanyahu’s tense relationship with outgoing US President Barack Obama was exacerbated in recent weeks, after the White House publicly clashed with Israel over its West Bank policy and later declined to veto a UN Security Council resolution condemning settlements.

Trump has assured Israel that things will be different after he takes office, and a day after his election victory, and has invited Netanyahu to meet with him in the United States “at the first opportunity.”