Israeli, U.S. Officials Hold High-Level Security Talks at the White House
by JNS.org
Israeli officials met with U.S. President Barack Obama’s national security adviser Monday to discuss Syria and Iran at the White House in the first high-level discussion between Israel and the U.S. since Obama’s reelection Nov. 6.
“National Security Adviser Tom Donilon hosted a delegation of senior Israeli officials on Nov. 12 for consultations on Iran, Syria, and a range of other regional security issues,” Donilon’s spokesman Tommy Vietor said, according to AFP.
The meetings “were the latest in a series of regular, high-level consultations between the United States and Israel, consistent with our strong bilateral partnership, and part of our unshakable commitment to Israel’s security,” Donilon said in a statement.
The discussion comes in the wake of more than 150 rockets being fired at Israel from Gaza, and stray mortar shells from the Syrian conflict falling into Israeli territory in the Golan Heights. Obama told Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas on Sunday that he still opposes a Palestinian bid for non-state membership at the United Nations. Obama also spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone two days after his re-election.