Days of Palestine, Reports –United States prevented on Friday Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon from meeting senior American officials, senior US sources said.
Ya’alon met with the American Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel and wanted to meet with the US Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Adviser Susan Rice.
The American sources reported the officials saying the US Administration was settling scores with Ya’alon for statements he made in January in which he called Kerry “obsessive” and “messianic” about Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which failed due to Israeli stubbiness in April.
Ya’alon met with Hagel on Tuesday. Israeli media reported that he voiced Israeli concerns about the direction of talks between the P5+1 world powers and Iran on its nuclear program. The two also spoke about the conflicts in Iraq and Syria.
The Israeli minister attempted to smooth over just hours before his trip to the US. “Relations between the US and ‘Israel’ are based on shared interests and values, and we cannot let this disagreement or that cast a shadow on them,” he said.
“America assists ‘Israel’ in a wide range of fields, including of course security, and we must remember this and thank the US and its leaders for this.
“There are intimate relationships between the two countries’ security establishments, unprecedented in their scope and in their importance for Israeli security, and between me and my friend Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel there are close relations.”
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