Reuters (excerpts):  In a highly unusual rebuff to a close ally, the White House said on Tuesday that President Barack Obama would not meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a US visit later this month, as tensions escalated over how to deal with Iran's nuclear program. 

The apparent snub, coupled together with Netanyahu's sharpened demands for a tougher US line against Iran, threatened to plunge US-Israeli relations into crisis.

An Israeli official said the White House had refu...

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