Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a meeting with pop star Justin Bieber after the singer refused to meet with children from southern Israel.
Netanyahu, who was scheduled to meet Bieber on April 13, a day before the teen pop star’s concert in Tel Aviv, invited children living in communities that have been hit by rockets fired from Gaza to join the sit-down. Bieber, however, refused to meet with the children, according to Israel Channel 2, causing Netanyahu to cancel the meeting.
Bieber and his manager reportedly asked for the meeting with Netanyahu.
The teen idol arrived April 11 in Israel and toured the country in advance of his concert, visiting Christian sites in the Galilee, the Dead Sea, Masada, Akko and Caesarea. He complained on Twitter that the Israeli paparazzi forced him to hole up in his hotel room.
Bieber’s tweets also alluded to the Netanyahu situation. On April 12, he tweeted, “I want to see this country and all the places I’ve dreamed of and whether it’s the [paparazzi] or being pulled into politics it’s been frustrating.”
Meanwhile, some 700 children from southern Israeli communities that have been hit by rockets and missiles from Gaza were given free tickets to the Bieber concert.
The tickets for the show in Tel Aviv, as well as free transportation, were a gift of the Schusterman Foundation-Israel, the Morningstar Foundation and ROI Community of Young Jewish Innovators. — jta