Israel has cancelled a high-level meeting with a visiting Norwegian dignitary after he held talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, Israeli political sources said on Tuesday. They said that a senior Foreign Ministry official was to have hosted Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Raymond Johansen in the morning but the meeting was cancelled. The sources had earlier said the meeting was to have taken place on Wednesday. “This is standing policy,” a political source said. The source said it was decided a year ago, after a Hamas-led government came to power, that Israel would boycott visiting dignitaries who met leaders of the Islamist group.
The Norwegian embassy in Tel Aviv had no comment, referring media inquiries to JohansenÂ’s spokeswoman. She could not immediately be reached.