JERUSALEM — The teenage pop idol Justin Bieber became embroiled in a diplomatic imbroglio on Tuesday when it emerged that plans for a meeting between the singer and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel had been called off, with the sides differing over why.
Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
Justin Bieber performing in Italy on Saturday.
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Times Topics: Benjamin Netanyahu | Justin Bieber
Mr. Bieber, who was discovered onYouTube and is famous for hits like“Baby,” is in Israel for an outdoor concert on Thursday night.
A spokesman for Mr. Netanyahu said that his office had been approached with the idea of a meeting, and that the prime minister had been “open to that.” The prime minister’s office then suggested including children from communities in southern Israel that have been under intense rocket fire from Gaza in recent days.
“Sadly,” the spokesman said, “that proved impossible,” suggesting that Mr. Bieber’s representatives had turned down the idea of including the children.
But a person involved in arranging the meeting on behalf of Mr. Bieber said that the discussions had been called off for logistical, not political, reasons and that it was more a case of miscommunication than anything else.
Both sides agreed that plans for a meeting had never been finalized.
A spokesman for Mr. Bieber said, “Justin welcomes the chance to meet with kids facing difficult circumstances, regardless of their background, and in fact, he had already invited children from the Sderot area,” referring to the Israeli town near the Gaza border, to attend his concert in Tel Aviv on Thursday.
Since Mr. Bieber arrived in Israel on Monday he has been mobbed by screaming teenage girls and overwhelmed by paparazzi, leading him to complain on Twitter that he had even been hounded at holy places.
“They should be ashamed of themselves,” he wrote on Tuesday. “Take pictures of me eating but not in a place of prayer, ridiculous.”
In another Twitter message, he wrote: “i want to see this country and all the places ive dreamed of and whether its the paps or being pulled into politics its been frustrating.”
Mr. Bieber’s representatives said that the last clause had nothing to do with Mr. Netanyahu. Last Thursday, a 16-year-old Israeli boy was critically wounded by an antitank missile fired by Hamas militants from Gaza at a school bus in Israel. That triggered days of intense exchanges of fire, during which 18 Palestinians, about half of them civilians, were killed.
Some international artists, like Elvis Costello and the Pixies, have refused to perform in Israel for political reasons in recent years, adding to the Israelis’ sense of isolation. The arrival of other stars, including Joan Armatrading, Rihanna, Elton John and Rod Stewart, has been celebrated as a sign of normalcy and acceptance.
The spokesman for Mr. Bieber noted, meanwhile, that “despite some logistical challenges, Justin is enjoying his first trip to Israel.”
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: April 16, 2011
Because of an editing error, an article on Wednesday about canceled plans for a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and the pop idol Justin Bieber misstated the location of a school bus hit on April 7 in a missile attack by Palestinian militants based in neighboring Gaza. It was in Israel, not Gaza.
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