New Defense Minister Liberman to visit US

Israel’s new Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman is to visit the United States this weekend for talks with his US counterpart, his office said Thursday, after Washington raised concerns over the hard-liner’s appointment.

Liberman’s trip will be his first abroad since being sworn in on May 30, though he is familiar to US officials from an earlier stint as foreign minister.

It comes with the United States and Israel in the process of negotiating a new 10-year defense aid pact to replace the current one, which expires in 2018 and grants the Jewish state more than $3 billion per year.

Liberman leaves on Saturday and is set to meet US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Monday.

He will also attend a ceremony in Dallas next Wednesday marking the development of US defense firm Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jet, which Israel is purchasing, and tour a factory of Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems.

Israel is to take delivery of its first two F-35s in December.

Following Liberman’s nomination, US State Department spokesman Mark Toner, in a rare comment on Israeli internal politics, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new ruling coalition raised “legitimate questions” over Israel’s commitment to a two-state solution in its conflict with the Palestinians.

Liberman’s appointment tilted Netanyahu’s cabinet, already seen as among the most right wing in Israeli history, even further to the right.

He has in the past spoken of harsh measures against Palestinians accused of terrorism.

Both Netanyahu and Liberman have however sought to allay concerns over the appointment, saying they are committed to peace and the two-state solution.

Netanyahu himself has also had a rocky relationship with US President Barack Obama’s administration, but the two leaders have sought to move past their disagreements in recent months and negotiate the new defense deal.