Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, plans to visit Israel next week to meet with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi.
The previously unscheduled visit, reported first by Walla on Wednesday, comes in the midst of the crisis of IDF reservists’ quitting in protest over the government’s judicial overhaul.
Milley hopes to gain a better firsthand view of how the crisis is impacting the IDF as well as joint US security interests.
It was unclear whether Milley would also deliver additional messages from the Biden administration to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding its opposition to continuing the judicial reform without a wider domestic consensus.
US, Israel cooperation in stopping Iran from going nuclear
In March, Israel hosted Milley for discussions that it said included the need for cooperation on denying Iran nuclear weaponry. That visit also was announced far in advance and occurred just before US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin came to Israel, Egypt, and Jordan.
“Ongoing cooperation is required to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon,” Gallant’s office quoted him as telling Milley at the time.
Milley made no public remarks in Israel in March. His representative said Milley had discussed regional security issues and “coordination to defend against threats posed by Iran” in his talks with Halevi.