U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis landed in Israel Friday and was received graciously by Israeli leaders. Mattis is meeting with Middle East leaders to ‘reaffirm military alliances’.
Netanyahu greeted the Secretary of Defense with this message: “Israel has no better friend than America. America has no better friend than Israel…We sense a great change in the direction of American policy….This is a welcome change, a strategic change of American leadership and American policy.”
The two held a meeting to discuss the “double threat” of “radical Islam,” referring to Iran and ISIS.
Mattis later met with President Reuven Rivlin at the president’s residence in Jerusalem. According to a press statement by Rivlin’s office, in the meeting the president stressed the need for building trust with the Palestinians. “The mistrust between the two peoples make it almost impossible to find a way to bring to an end not only a conflict but a real tragedy,” Rivlin told Mattis, according to the statement.
The American chief of defense also met with Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman in Tel Aviv to discuss the situation in the Middle East, with a focus on Syria and Iran.
{Matzav}
