Gallant set to visit Washington later this month for talks with US counterpart
Pentagon says the defense chiefs will ‘discuss ongoing security developments’ in Mideast; trip will take place before PM’s July 24 address to Congress
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will visit Washington later this month, his office confirmed Saturday to The Times of Israel after the US Defense Department announced the trip.
It will be the second time the minister has visited the United States amid the war in Gaza that was triggered by Hamas’s shock October 7 attack on southern Israel.
A Pentagon spokesperson said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin extended the invitation to Gallant when they spoke this week “to further discuss ongoing security developments in the Middle East.”
It was not immediately clear if Gallant will meet with other US officials in Washington.
No date has yet been set for the visit, which will come ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah’s scheduled address to a joint session of Congress on July 24.
Gallant’s meeting with Austin is expected to focus on Gaza, where the Biden administration is pushing a hostage-for-ceasefire deal to end the fighting, and the escalating skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah along the Lebanon border.
Both topics were raised during the two’s phone call on Tuesday, which came hours before Hamas rejected the latest truce proposal for not containing a pledge by Israel to permanently end the war.
Biden said Thursday that he does not expect a ceasefire and hostage release deal for Gaza to be reached in the near future, saying Hamas needs to shift its position closer to Israel’s US-backed proposal on the table.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
