U.S. Defense Secretary to arrive in Israel to discuss Iran nuclear program

[Jefferson23]

Leon Panetta's meeting with Defense Minister Ehud Barak will also cover Israel-U.S. ties, Palestinian statehood bid, Arab Spring; meeting is second between Panetta and Barak in two weeks.

By Amos Harel

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta will arrive in Israel on Monday and meet with Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The two are due to discuss several issues including security ties between the U.S. and Israel, the Palestinian drive for independence, the "Arab Spring" and the Iranian nuclear program.

This will be the second meeting between Barak and Panetta within two weeks. The last meeting took place when Barak visited Washington just before the opening session of the United Nations' General Assembly that dealt with the Palestinian application. Barak also held meetings with General David Petraeus, who replaced Panetta as director of the Central Intelligence Agency earlier this year. In both cases, the meetings were announced only a few days before they took place.


Panetta, who also visited Israel when he served as the CIA chief, is due to hold a joint press conference with Barak in the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv before continuing to Egypt, where he is scheduled to meet the leaders of the interim government.

Barak and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are believed to favor an Israeli strike on Iran, while the Obama administration has gone out of its way to voice its objection to such a move. Panetta's predecessor at the Defense Department, Robert Gates, has repeatedly reiterated his objection to an Israeli strike, claiming that such a move would have severe consequences.

remainder: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/u-s-defense-secretary-to-arrive-in-israel-to-discuss-iran-nuclear-program-1.387752