US Pence visit to Israel indefinitely postponed

GAZA CITY - 1 January 2018: US Vice President Mike Pence's planned trip to Israel has been indefinitely delayed beyond January, Times of Israel quoted Israeli Foreign Ministry officials as saying Monday.

Pence was originally scheduled to arrive in the region in late December, but postponed the trip due to the US administration's efforts to push a tax reform through Congress.

It had also been speculated that the vice president canceled his trip due to the fact that Palestinian officials and leading Muslim and Christian clerics no longer wanted to receive him in protest of US President Donald Trump's December 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

On Monday, the Foreign Ministry published its list of foreign dignitaries due in Israel this month. Pence's name does not appear on this list.

Asked to clarify, Israeli officials said that "due to various scheduling difficulties," no new date has yet been set for the vice president's visit.

He had been slated to hold meetings with Netanyahu and deliver an address to the Knesset.