. . .Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (nicknamed Bibi) invited some school children from Sderot, a town often targeted by Palestinian militants with rocket attacks. A perfect photo op: Bieber and Bibi and his long-suffering Israeli teen fans?

Bieber – or his handlers – balked at being drawn into a political event. Or, maybe Bibi canceled on Bieber, when he expressed reservations.

“We never asked to meet with [Netanyahu], nor has anyone connected with us asked to meet him,” Bieber manager Scooter Braun, ­ a vocally pro-Israel American Jew, told The Jerusalem Post. . .