Gallant to head to Washington Sunday at invitation of US defense chief

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will head to Washington DC tomorrow for an official trip at the invitation of his American counterpart, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, his office says.

Gallant will meet Austin, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and other senior US officials during the visit.

The Defense Ministry says Gallant will discuss with the officials “the progress of the fighting to dismantle Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the efforts to return the hostages held captive by Hamas, the actions being taken on the ground to bring in humanitarian aid, as well as the actions to improve regional stability and strengthen the special cooperation between the defense establishment and the American government with an emphasis on the procurement processes to preserve the qualitative advantage of the State of Israel in the region.”

Joining Gallant is Defense Ministry Director General Eyal Zamir; the minister’s chief of staff, Shachar Katz; his military secretary Brig. Gen. Guy Markizeno; the commander of the IDF’s Strategic Division, Brig. Gen. Benny Gal; COGAT official Col. Elad Goren; and Dror Shalom, the head of the ministry’s Political-Military Bureau.