Obama and Netanyahu, the statement said, were in “frequent contact,” and Netanyahu will meet with Clinton “and other officials.” 
 
 Obama, who will spend only one night in New York, does not plan to meet with any foreign leaders at the U.N. session, according to an administration official who spoke about the president’s schedule on the condition of anonymity. Disagreement over meeting 
 
 Just hours after Netanyahu’s remarks Tuesday, U.S. and Israeli officials acknowledged that Netanyahu had sought a meeting with Obama when they both attend the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York later this month. He appeared to be responding to a weekend statement by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that the United States was “not setting deadlines” beyond which it would turn to a military solution. WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel inserted himself into the most contentious foreign policy issue of the American presidential campaign on Tuesday, criticizing the Obama administration for refusing to set clear “red lines” on Iran’s nuclear progress that would prompt the United States to undertake a military strike. Clinton said that the US was not setting deadlines, and Nuland expanded that by saying that it was “not useful” to be “setting deadlines one way or the other, red lines.” 
 
 Netanyahu, at the press conference with Borisov on Tuesday said that diplomacy and sanctions, which have hurt the Iranian economy, have not stopped the Iranian nuclear program. Although international inspectors have cited continuing advances in Iran’s nuclear program and diplomatic negotiations have stalled, U.S. intelligence analysts believe that Iranian leaders have not yet made a political decision to produce a nuclear bomb. The Israelis say Iran is quietly reconstituting a much larger effort. Mr. Netanyahu, speaking at a news conference in Jerusalem, 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.” 
 
 In another sign of tensions, the Israeli Embassy in Washington said late Tuesday that the Obama administration had declined a request from Mr. Netanyahu’s office for a meeting with Mr. Obama when the Israeli leader attends the United Nations General Assembly this month. Mr. Netanyahu’s unusually harsh public comments about Israel’s most important ally, which closely track what he has reportedly said in vivid terms to American officials visiting Jerusalem, laid bare the tension between him and President Obama over how to handle Iran. The United States concluded several years ago that Iran had suspended its nuclear weapons development program at the end of 2003, though there has been evidence of sporadic work since. In a further statement late Tuesday that indicated growing concern over the tensions, the White House said Obama and Netanyahu had spoken by telephone “for an hour tonight as part of their ongoing consultations.” It said they discussed “the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program, and our close cooperation on Iran and other security issues” and “reaffirmed that they are united in their determination to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and agreed to continue their close consultations going forward.” The White House issued a statement saying that a meeting was impossible because “they’re simply not in the city at the same time.” Obama plans to depart New York immediately after his Sept. 25 address to the General Assembly, while Netanyahu will not arrive to deliver his speech until Sept. 27. The White House also tried to tamp down controversy over the request for a meeting, saying that after a possible New York encounter was ruled out, Mr. Netanyahu did not request a meeting in Washington. The Obama administration said the decision was due to a scheduling problem and had been conveyed to Israel long ago.
– President Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu's relations have never been described as warm, and two developments today show they're not getting warmer: No meeting: Obama has turned down a request to meet with Netanyahu when he comes to the US later this month to address the UN. The White House says it just can't squeeze him in, which will mark the first time the prime minister has been shut out on a US trip, reports the Jerusalem Post. Fightin' words: In what the Washington Post describes as a "blistering" criticism, Netanyahu blasted the US and the West for being soft on Iran in regard to its nuclear program. "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 was taking at dig at Hillary Clinton's comments over the weekend that "red lines" and "deadlines" weren't useful. Election at play? The New York Times says Netanyahu "appeared to be making maximum use of his political leverage at a time when Mr. Obama’s Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, has sought to make an issue of what he says is the administration’s lack of support for Israel."