Next week, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Israel, where he will meet his Israeli counterpart Benny Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to what was reported - Tuesday by the US news site Axios and Hebrew media.
And thus Austin will become the first secretary in the Biden administration to visit Israel since the Democratic president received the keys to the White House on January 20.
The Pentagon did not confirm this visit, knowing that it surrounded the defense minister's travels abroad in an aura of secrecy.
For security reasons.
According to the "Axios" website, the US secretary will discuss - during his visit to Tel Aviv - thorny regional issues, foremost among which are "security threats that Israel faces from Iran, Lebanon and Syria," according to the site.
Israel is very concerned about the Biden administration's desire to enter new negotiations with Tehran to revive the Iran nuclear deal from which the United States withdrew under former President Donald Trump in 2018.
Israel has never hidden its opposition to this agreement signed in 2015 between Tehran and the major countries, and the Netanyahu government has supported Trump's approach to exerting "maximum pressure" on Tehran after his decision to withdraw his country from the agreement and re-impose sanctions on the Islamic Republic.