Netanyahu: We Will Boycott Diplomats Who Meet NGOs that Defame Israeli Soldiers

The Jerusalem Post reports: Israeli-German relations took a turn for the worse on Tuesday, the day after Holocaust Remembrance Day, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a meeting with visiting German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel because he insisted on meeting with far-Left NGO Breaking the Silence.

“Our relations with Germany are strong and they are important and they will continue,” Netanyahu said, explaining his decision to cancel the meeting with a senior representative of one of Israel’s most important friends in Europe.

“My policy is clear: not to meet with diplomats who visit Israel and meet with organizations that defame IDF soldiers and try to prosecute our soldiers as war criminals, which diplomats would never consider doing in the United States, Britain or anywhere else,” he said. “Our soldiers are the basis of our existence. They are guarding us, and we will protect them.”