Liberman to visit US for first time as defense minister

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

Lieberman’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.

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

— AFP