Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Israel on Thursday for a 24-hour visit with the country’s top leaders that is expected to focus on Iran’s nuclear program as well as the challenges posed by the past year’s regional upheavals and the American military exit from Iraq.
This is General Dempsey’s first visit to Israel since taking over as chairman in October, and he is to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, the military chief of staff. He will also visit Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial and museum. He arrives after a visit to Europe.
Israel and the United States both say that Iran is pursuing the building of nuclear weapons — an assertion denied by Tehran — but they have had differing views on how aggressive the pursuit has been and what should be done about it. Both countries say that if Iran achieved that goal it would pose enormous dangers to them, their allies and Iran’s neighbors and would set off a lethal nuclear arms race in a highly unstable region. Both say they are committed to preventing Iran from building nuclear weapons.
Israel has frequently raised the possibility of military action against Iran if other means fail to halt Tehran’s nuclear work, but it would prefer to have the United States take the lead.
The Americans, while agreeing that force could be a last resort, have said that the first steps must be diplomacy and sanctions. Israel has publicly agreed that if sanctions are sufficiently tough, they could have the desired effect because the Iranian economy is shaky and the government may well respond to such measures.
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
