* Israeli official says request turned down
* White House denies rejection but confirms they won't meet
* Obama telephones Netanyahu on Tuesday night
WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM, Sept 11 (Reuters) - In a highly
unusual rebuff to a close ally as tensions escalated over how to
deal with Iran's nuclear program, the White House said on
Tuesday President Barack Obama would not meet Benjamin Netanyahu
during the Israeli prime minister's U.S. visit later this month.
The apparent snub, coupled with Netanyahu's sharpened
demands for a tougher U.S. line against Iran, threatened to
plunge U.S.-Israeli relations into crisis and add pressure on
Obama in the final stretch of a tight presidential election
campaign.
An Israeli official, who declined to be identified, said the
White House had refused Netanyahu's request to meet Obama when
the Israeli leader visits the United States to attend the U.N.
General Assembly, telling the Israelis, "The president's
schedule will not permit that."
White House spokesman Tommy Vietor denied that Netanyahu had
ever made such an overture - let alone that it had been spurned
- insisting instead that the two leaders were attending the
General Assembly on different days and would not be in New York
at the same time.
With U.S.-Israeli differences increasingly laid bare and
allies of Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney seizing
the chance to slam Obama over his Israel policy, the president
phoned Netanyahu on Tuesday night.
Netanyahu has had a strained relationship with Obama, but
they have met on all but one of his U.S trips since 2009. The
president was on a foreign visit when the prime minister came to
the United States in November 2010.
By withholding a meeting, the Democratic president could
alienate some Jewish and pro-Israel voters as he seeks a second
term in the Nov. 6 election. Romney has already accused Obama of
being too tough on Israel and not hard enough on Iran.
Obama and Netanyahu, according to a White House summary of
their call, reaffirmed a "united" determination to prevent Iran
from acquiring a nuclear weapon and to continue close
consultations. But they mentioned nothing about the "red lines"
Netanyahu wants Obama to set for Tehran.
Obama's avoidance of a face-to-face meeting could signal
U.S. displeasure with Netanyahu's intensifying push a specific
ultimatum to Iran. Obama aides say privately they believe
Netanyahu favors Romney, a fellow conservative, although the
Israeli leader has been cautious to avoid being seen interfering
in the election campaign.
Word that the two men would not meet came on the same day
that Netanyahu said the United States had forfeited its moral
right to stop Israel from taking action against Iran's nuclear
program because it had refused to be firm with Tehran itself.
Netanyahu has argued that setting a clear boundary for
Iran's uranium enrichment activities and imposing stronger
economic sanctions could deter Tehran from developing nuclear
weapons and mitigate the need for military action.
In comments that appeared to bring the possibility of an
Israeli attack on Iran closer, Netanyahu took Washington to task
for rebuffing his call to set a clear "red line" for Iran's
nuclear program, which has already prompted four rounds of U.N.
sanctions.
"The world tells Israel, 'Wait, there's still time.' And I
say, 'Wait for what? Wait until when?'" Netanyahu said.
"Those in the international community who refuse to put red
lines before Iran don't have a moral right to place a red light
before Israel," he added, addressing a news conference with
Bulgaria's prime minister.
John McCain and Lindsey Graham, Republican senators and
critics of Obama's foreign policy, said in a joint statement:
"It is puzzling that the president can't make time to see the
head of state of one of America's closest allies in the world."
"If these reports are true, the White House's decision sends
a troubling signal to our ally Israel about America's commitment
at this dangerous and challenging time," they said.
'UNPRECEDENTED ATTACK'
The website of Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz called
Netanyahu's words "an unprecedented verbal attack on the U.S.
government".
Iran makes no secret of its hostility to Israel, widely
assumed to be the region's only nuclear-armed power, but says
its nuclear program is purely peaceful.
Netanyahu's relations with Obama have been tense because of
Iran and other issues, such as Jewish settlement building in the
occupied West Bank.
But he has never framed his differences with Obama - who has
pledged he will "always have Israel's back" and has not ruled
out military action against Iran if all else fails - in moral
terms.
Obama has been seeking to shore up his advantage over Romney
with Jewish voters - who could make a difference in election
battleground states like Florida and Ohio - by stressing his
support for Israel's security. He received 78 percent of the
Jewish vote in 2008, but a nationwide Gallup poll in June showed
him down to 64 percent backing versus Romney's 29 percent.
While seeking to put Netanyahu in his place might not go
down well with pro-Israel voters, the White House may also be
trying to avoid an embarrassing encounter. When the two men met
in the Oval Office in May 2011, Netanyahu lectured Obama on
Jewish history and criticized his approach to
Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy.
Netanyahu's office had offered a solution to the leaders'
scheduling problems by having him visit Washington before his
U.N. speech on Sept. 28, but the White House did not accept the
idea, the Israeli official said.
Obama, who is keeping up a busy schedule of campaign rallies
across the country, is expected to take a break to address the
opening session at the United Nations on Sept. 25.
There was no immediate comment from the Romney campaign,
which had curtailed its public statements out of respect for the
11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Netanyahu's harsh comments on Tuesday followed U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's remarks on Monday that the
United States would not set a deadline in further talks with
Iran, and that there was still time for sanctions and diplomacy
to work. Clinton - instead of Obama - will meet Netanyahu at the
United Nations later in September, the White House said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Tuesday that
Washington would have little more than a year to act to stop
Iran if it decided to produce a nuclear weapon.
Iran has threatened to retaliate against Israel and U.S.
interests in the Gulf if it is attacked, and any such conflict
could throw Obama's re-election bid off course.
DEADLINE
Netanyahu did not mention Clinton by name, but pointedly
parroted her use of the word "deadline," saying: "If Iran knows
that there is no 'deadline', what will it do? Exactly what it's
doing. It's continuing, without any interference, towards
obtaining a nuclear weapons capability and from there, nuclear
bombs."
"So far, we can say with certainty that diplomacy and
sanctions haven't worked. The sanctions have hurt the Iranian
economy, but they haven't stopped the Iranian nuclear program.
That's a fact. And the fact is that every day that passes, Iran
gets closer and closer to nuclear bombs."
Despite the recent tougher Israeli rhetoric, over the past
week, Netanyahu, in calling for a "red line," had appeared to be
backing away from military action. Polls suggest a majority of
Israelis do not want to strike Iran without U.S. support.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak seemed to criticize Netanyahu's
assault on the Jewish state's biggest ally.
"Despite the differences and importance of maintaining
Israel's independence of action, we must remember the importance
of partnership with the United States and try as much as
possible not to hurt that," a statement from his office said.
