BICOM

The Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford arrives in Israel today on a visit to discuss regional security issues with Israeli military and defence officials.

Dunford will be the guest of IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, and will also meet with Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman. The three men are expected to discuss, among other issues, the situation in Syria, the attempts to supply Hezbollah with advanced weaponry and recent developments in the Sinai Peninsula.

The visit is not connected to the forthcoming US Presidential visit on May 22. Extensive planning is already underway for Israel to host a US delegation of 1,000 people, including President Trump, his wife Melania, his daughter Ivanka, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, Secretary of Defence James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

On Friday, Regional Cooperation Minister Tzahi Hanegbi said that  President Trump intends to renew direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians: “He is very excited by the possibility that there may be a window of opportunity…and offering his services as a broker.”

Netanyahu professed to share President Trump’s goal of renewing the peace process in a cabinet meeting on Sunday, whilst also stressing that Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas “praises terrorists” and was not “educating their children for peace.”

World Jewish Congress President Chairman Ronald Lauder, who is working as an informal advisor to President Trump, told the Jerusalem Post that Trump persuaded Abbas to make concessions on Israel; although Netanyahu has expressed concern over Lauder’s involvement with Abbas.