U.S. top general heading for Israel to meet Defense Minister

PanARMENIAN.Net - The United States' top military officer will visit Israel where he will meet the defense minister who has angered Washington by criticizing its strategies in the Middle East and Ukraine, according to Reuters.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon in Jerusalem on Sunday, March 30.

The U.S. State Department has said it is disappointed Yaalon has not apologized for remarks he made at a closed-door meeting this month ridiculing Secretary of State John Kerry's push for an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord and saying that Washington's handling of the Ukraine crisis projected weakness.

Neither the U.S. embassy nor the Israeli military, Dempsey's hosts, had published a full itinerary for the visit as of Saturday morning. One Israeli official briefed on the trip said it was likely to last until Tuesday and Dempsey may not make any public appearances.

In remarks that were leaked to the media, Yaalon, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party, suggested that Israel, should it lose faith in Washington, might have to make good on a long-standing threat to attack Iran's nuclear program unilaterally.

He responded to Washington's condemnation by saying he valued the alliance, but stopped short of apologizing.