Israel avoided a potentially uncomfortable New York confrontation with Pakistan during UN General Assembly week by canceling a dinner reservation for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after learning Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would be eating at the same spot, according to a report in The New York Post on Thursday.
According to the report, the billionaire Pakistani leader ate at Serafina Always on Tuesday night.
Netanyahu’s team had booked tables there, too, “but decided not to proceed after learning the Pakistani PM would be there,” a source told the media outfit, adding the decision to cancel was made “for security reasons”.
Sharif, speaking in 2014 about the Gaza conflict, said, “[The] world must stop Israel from this naked and brutal aggression.”
A witness at Serafina said Sharif dined for three hours on the second floor with his wife, who “looked beautiful” dressed in gold, and 10 others in his entourage, while his security detail occupied two separate tables.
His party was adamant that there could be no alcohol or meat, and they ate pizzas and drank sodas. For dessert they ate apple pie, cheesecake and chocolate soufflé.
But they declined the tiramisu because it contains a splash of amaretto.
When they left the place at 10:30 p.m., we’re told Sharif and his wife spoke in Italian to the staff, saying, “Grazie.”
A source added of Netanyahu, “He opted not to eat at Serafina after learning Pakistan’s leader would be there. Netanyahu has the best security in the world. But one can assume that it wouldn’t make sense for him to be at a restaurant at the same time as Sharif.”
