Gates to visit Israel for talks on Iran, US-Israeli ties

Washington, 20 July (WashingtonTV)—US Defense Secretary Robert Gates will visit Israel on 27 July for talks likely to focus on Iran’s nuclear program and US-Israeli strategic ties, officials involved in planning the trip said on Sunday.

“We expect Iran to be the main issue. There is obviously a value in a show of Americans and Israelis closing ranks about Iran,” one official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said about the visit, reports Reuters.

Tehran rejects Western accusations that its nuclear activities are aimed at developing nuclear arms.

The United States and Israel have not ruled out a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities if diplomatic measures fail to resolve the longstanding nuclear row.

The US official told Reuters that the visit “may be an American attempt to reassure Israel on Iran as part of Washington’s pressure for movement on the Palestinian track.”

While the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that neutralizing the perceived threat from Iran is key to Israeli-Arab peacemaking, the United States wants parallel progress on both issues.

Gates is set to spend six hours next Monday in Israel, meeting Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. He is also expected to visit neighboring Jordan.

Meanwhile, a senior US defense official told the Jerusalem Post yesterday that an Israeli strike on Iran could have “profoundly destabilizing consequences.”

“It wouldn’t just affect the general level of stability in the region. It would affect Israel’s security and it would affect our interests, and the safety of our forces in Afghanistan and Iraq and elsewhere,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The official added that he hoped Israel would take its relationship with America into account in contemplating any such attack.

Sources: Reuters, Jerusalem Post

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