Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has abruptly cancelled a meeting with the visiting German foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel, in a high-profile diplomatic row over the German minister’s plan to meet two Israeli rights groups.

Netanyahu’s snub came after he issued an ultimatum to Gabriel to cancel meetings with military whistleblower group Breaking the Silence and human rights group B’Tselem.

Gabriel had responded by saying it would be “regrettable” if the meeting were cancelled and indicated his intention to go ahead with them. In comments to the German TV channel ZDF, he said it would be “inconceivable” for the German minister to cancel a meeting with the Israeli leader if the latter chose to meet figures critical of the German government.

“You never get the full picture of any state in the world if you just meet with figures in government ministries,” he told the channel.

A statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office said: “Netanyahu’s policy is not to meet foreign visitors who, on diplomatic trips to Israel, meet with groups that slander IDF [Israel Defence Forces] soldiers as war criminals.

MORE:   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/25/israel-snubs-german-foreign-minister-in-row-over-human-rights-talks