JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled talks on Tuesday with Germany’s foreign minister in a rare move after the visiting diplomat declined to call off meetings with rights groups critical of the Jewish state.

Netanyahu’s meeting with Sigmar Gabriel was cancelled after the German diplomat decided to go ahead with talks with two Israeli rights groups, Breaking The Silence and B’Tselem.

Breaking The Silence seeks to document Israeli military abuses in the Palestinian territories, while B’Tselem has worked on a range of issues and has opposed Israeli settlement building.

Cancelling the meeting was a rare step, but in line with the current right-wing government’s stance against groups it accuses of having political agendas and of unfairly tarnishing Israel.

Netanyahu’s office issued a statement saying, in a reference to Breaking The Silence, “imagine if foreign diplomats visiting the United States or Britain met NGOs that call American or British soldiers war criminals”.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2017