In what could be the most intriguingly inconsequential news to come out of the conflict-plagued Mideast, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a sit-down with Justin Bieber this week. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that Netanyahu backed out over the teen idol's alleged refusal to meet with Israeli kids from areas hit by Palestinian rocket fire. Bieber's reps say their client couldn't squeeze everything in before a Thursday concert in Tel Aviv. Who's the bad guy here?
It's Bibi, not the Biebs: Netanyahu is just trying to make Bieber "an unwitting pawn in the Israel-Palestine conflict," according to Hypervocal. The teenage Canadian pop star grew up in a devoutly Christian household, and he merely wanted a memorable trip to the Holy Land. It's "sort of shameful" that Netanyahu treated the visit like "a golden PR opportunity" by using "Bieber fever" to focus attention on Hamas rocket fire from Gaza.
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