According to Israeli media, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu preferred to talk with US President Joe Biden first, thus Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant postponed his Wednesday visit to the Pentagon, the Pentagon announced.
The unexpected cancellation on Tuesday coincides with rising tensions between Iran and Israel as Israel considers its options in response to Tehran’s missile launch against Israel last week, which was the second this year.
The Pentagon declined to say why Gallant cancelled his visit and referred reporters to Israel’s Ministry of defense. Offices for Netanyahu and Gallant did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“We were just informed that Minister Gallant will be postponing his trip to Washington,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told a news briefing. Israel’s Ynet news outlet reported that Gallant had hoped his US visit would strengthen coordination on Iran but hours before departure, Netanyahu set two preconditions: the call with Biden and cabinet approval of the response to Iran.
The White House referred questions about the Gallant visit to the Israeli government. Biden and his aides have spoken of a possible call with Netanyahu since the end of September. But the White House did not immediately respond to a query on whether such a call had now been scheduled.
Biden said on Friday he thought Israel had not yet concluded how to respond to Iran and added that he would think about alternatives to striking Iranian oil fields if he were in Israel’s shoes.
+ There are no comments
Add yours