Israel Hayom is reporting that Israeli Army Radio disclosed late Sunday the reason for Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon’s recent removal from the Yisrael Beiteinu party list  was because of meetings he held with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was not made aware of.

The report, confirmed to the paper by senior Foreign Ministry officials, claimed Lieberman was infuriated with Ayalon after he learned of the meeting, in part because he himself does not get along well with Clinton.

Ayalon, who was responsible for Israel’s strategic relations with the U.S. and was in constant contact with Clinton’s deputy throughout his term of office, reportedly met several times with Clinton in an attempt to maintain proper foreign policy conduct between the countries.

Lieberman and Clinton met several times during their terms in office but the frequency of their meetings was much lower than those of past foreign ministers of both countries, Israel Hayom reports.

Close advisers of Ayalon confirmed the report, but an official statement by the Foreign Ministry said, “The allegations are childish and groundless, but we shouldn’t judge someone in their hour of despair.”

A report in the Times of Israel cited the Foreign Ministry as saying it was because of Lieberman’s desire to normalize ties with Turkey that Ayalon was dismissed.