Netanyahu calls off Elon Musk meeting as U.S. trip is sharply shortened
The Israeli advance team had already arrived in Texas before being told the planned meeting was canceled.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has canceled a planned meeting with Elon Musk in Texas, in a move that will also significantly shorten his upcoming trip to the United States.
The cancellation was first reported by Ynet, which said an Israeli advance team had already traveled to Texas to prepare for the meeting before being informed that the stop was off. Israeli officials told Ynet that Netanyahu himself made the decision to cancel the meeting.
The Texas stop had been complicated from the start by the logistics of Netanyahu’s travel. His aircraft cannot fly nonstop from Israel to Texas and would have needed to make a refueling stop somewhere in the United States.
Netanyahu’s overall U.S. visit is now expected to last only a few hours. Instead of arriving in New York on Wednesday, delivering his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday and returning afterward, he is expected to arrive Thursday morning, address the General Assembly at 2 p.m. local time and leave the country shortly afterward.
The cancellation also comes as Netanyahu’s schedule has yet to include a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. U.S. officials said Netanyahu is not currently on Trump’s schedule for meetings with leaders attending the General Assembly, citing scheduling constraints. Netanyahu’s office said his itinerary was still being finalized, and that he would be prepared to change his schedule if a meeting with Trump were arranged
Trump is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Tuesday and is expected to leave New York before Netanyahu arrives. Netanyahu is expected to speak on Thursday, September 24, during the General Assembly’s September 22-28 debate.
The canceled meeting would have brought Netanyahu together with Musk, whose relationship with the Israeli government has previously included discussions about artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles and Tesla’s potential deployment of its Full Self-Driving technology in Israel.
Musk had been expected to visit Israel earlier this year for a technology and mobility conference, but ultimately participated remotely. During that appearance, he praised Israel’s innovation and described the country as a global leader in innovation per capita.
