Obama ‘wrong not to meet leader’

Mr Romney called it a mistake that “sends a message throughout the Middle East that somehow we distance ourselves from our friends”.

The White House has said scheduling precluded a meeting between the two leaders, who will not be in New York at the same time.

With the final six weeks of a hard-fought election hanging over the UN summit, Mr Obama has opted out of face-to-face meetings with any of his counterparts – not just Mr Netanyahu – during his UN visit.

Mr Obama distanced himself from the notion that he feels pressure from Mr Netanyahu, dismissing as noise the Israeli leader’s calls for the US to lay out a “red line” that Iran’s nuclear programme must not cross to avoid American military intervention.

“When it comes to our national security decisions, any pressure that I feel is simply to do what’s right for the American people,” Mr Obama said.