(VOVworld) – The White House says US President Barack Obama will not meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the Israeli leader visits Washington in early March to speak to a joint session of Congress.

US President Barack Obama meets with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the White House, October 1, 2014. (Photo: REUTERS)

Bernadette Meehan, a National Security Council spokeswoman, said in a statement Thursday that US President Barack Obama has refused to meet Israeli leader Netanyahu as elections in Israel will take place in March 17^th. Meehan claimed the reason for a "matter of long-standing practice and principle" that the president will not meet with “heads of state or candidates” in close proximity to their elections so as to avoid the appearance of influencing a democratic election in a foreign country.

The same day, a spokesperson for the US Department of State Jen Psaki said Secretary of State John Kerry will also not hold talks with Netanyahu throughout the March visit for a similar reason.

The comments came a day after House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner invited Netanyahu to address a special joint session of Congress next month. Boehner told the media that he made the invitation without first consulting either the White House or the Department of State, adding that the move was under congress jurisdiction. But the White House has called the invitation a breach of normal protocol.