US military chief lands in Israel to talk Syria, Islamic State

US military chief Joseph Dunford arrived in Israel on Monday to meet his Israeli counterparts for talks expected to focus on the situation in Syria, as well as the fight against the Islamic State.

During the visit — Dunford’s third as the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff — he will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and other military commanders, the army said.

Dunford’s plane touched down at Ben Gurion International Airport, outside Tel Aviv, on Monday afternoon.

Maj. Gen. Mickey Edelstein, Israel’s military attache to the United States, met Dunford at the airport. The American general arrived with his wife Ellyn. During the visit, they will be the guests of Eisenkot, the army said.

The American military leader will be received on Tuesday morning by an honor guard at the IDF’s Tel Aviv headquarters, before his official meetings with Eisenkot, Liberman and Netanyahu.

#CJCS General Joseph F Dunford landed today in #Israel for an official visit as the guest of the IDF Chief of Staff Lt General Gadi Eizenkot pic.twitter.com/yrD0PWxCns

— U.S. Embassy Jerusalem (@usembassyjlm) May 8, 2017

Among other topics, Dunford and the Israeli officials are expected to discuss the fighting in Sinai, where an Islamic State affiliate is engaged in a bloody war with Egyptian forces, as well as the situation in Syria, specifically the chemical weapons still believed to be in the control of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and the Iranian government’s attempts to transfer advanced weaponry through the country to the Hezbollah terrorist group.

Last Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said fighting the Islamic State was a key part of brokering Israeli-Palestinian peace. Trump was speaking before meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House.

While the trip to Israel is at least Dunford’s third in his current position, it is his fourth time meeting with Eisenkot, who traveled to the United States in August.

This week, American and Israeli pilots will fly together in a joint exercise over the Arava desert in southern Israel, the army said.

Also on Sunday, US and Jordanian forces kicked off a large-scale military exercise, known as “Eager Lion,” in which more than 20 nations will take part.

During Eisenkot’s trip in August, Dunford presented the Israeli military chief with the US Legion of Merit. The medal can be awarded by the US Armed Forces to foreign military and political officials who “distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services,” according to US law.

The chairman last visited in Israel in March 2016, when he met with Eisenkot and then-defense minister Moshe Ya’alon.

AFP contributed to this report.