Welcoming his first foreign counterpart since taking over as Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel met Tuesday with outgoing Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The meeting revolved around concerns that U.S. budgetary woes would impact the bilateral relationship and undercut U.S. security investments in Israel, a possibility that the Pentagon chief dismissed:
Hagel expressed his strong commitment to Israel’s security, including maintaining Israel’s qualitative military edge and continued U.S. support for missile and rocket defense systems in spite of fiscal constraints… Hagel and Barak agreed that the United States-Israeli defense relationship has never been stronger, Little said, and that both nations will continue their close cooperation. The two leaders also discussed the range of shared security interests including the need for the Syrian regime to maintain control over chemical and biological weapons in their country.
Hagel’s comments echo those of Vice President Joe Biden, who in his Monday address before the annual conference of the grassroots pro-Israel group AIPAC, noted that American support for Israel is “in our naked self-interest, beyond the moral imperative.”
Barak has visited the Pentagon more times in recent years than any other Israeli defense minister.
Tuesday’s meeting was conducted in an atmosphere of warmth, as Hagel greeted Barak with a full honor guard and a salute and was given a bear hug in response. The meeting lasted a full two hours, and concluded with Hagel praising their “outstanding working relationship” and thanking Barak for his “kind words” at the annual 2013 AIPAC policy conference. Barak had welcomed Hagel to his new post:
On behalf of the people of Israel, I wish Secretary Hagel all the best in his new role… He will, no doubt, serve his country with the same pride and honor with which he served, both on the battlefield and in Congress.
The defense secretary told Barak that he hopes to visit Israel soon to deepen already-robust bilateral defense ties. Hagel specifically cited the U.S.’s commitment to maintaining U.S.-Israeli cooperation on missile defense.
Israel has developed a three-tier missile defense infrastructure – made up of Iron Dome, Arrow, David’s Sling platforms – to defend against short-range, medium-range, and long-range missiles. Hagel’s predecesor at the Pentagon, Leon Panetta, had emphasized that U.S.-Israeli missile defense cooperation boosts American military and diplomatic interests, in part by preventing “rockets fired from Gaza into Israeli population centers” from sparking “wider conflict in that region.”
[Photo: Secretary of Defense / Flickr]