Obama forgoes Knesset address, opts to speak before Israeli students instead
U.S. president decides that purpose of speech is to send a message directly to the Israeli public; White House officials say visit not dependent on establishment of new Israeli coalition.
By Barak Ravid | Mar.06, 2013 | 10:25 PM
U.S. President Barack Obama has decided not to address the Knesset when he visits Israel in about two weeks.
Senior U.S. officials said that after lengthy discussions of the issue, the White House decided that Obama would instead address students from Israel’s major universities. The speech will take place at Jerusalem’s International Convention Center.
Obama attributes great importance to the speech he will deliver while he is here.
In recent weeks, alongside work on drafting the speech itself, the White House has held numerous discussions on where the speech should be given, what audience he should be speaking before, and how these details can bolster the message the speech is intended to deliver. Obama’s advisers, along with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, consulted both Israelis and Americans on the issue in order to hear a spectrum of opinions.
in full: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/obama-forgoes-knesset-address-opts-to-speak-before-israeli-students-instead.premium-1.507795#
= new reply since forum marked as read
from your link
Last month, acting Knesset Speaker Binyamin Ben Eliezer and MK Reuven Rivlin (Likud Beytenu), speaker of the previous Knesset, asked Prime MInister Binyamin Netanyahu to request that Obama address the plenum.
gotta loooov willful misinterpretation it says oh so much 
because the statement was made prior to Obama's announcement by someone who may well not be holding the post by the time Obama arrives in Israel
it's a start 
President, indeed.
