ISRAEL/JERUSALEM: U.S. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates meets with Olmert in Jerusalem and foreign minister Livni in Tel Aviv

Record ID: 401349

  • Title: ISRAEL/JERUSALEM: U.S. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates meets with Olmert in Jerusalem and foreign minister Livni in Tel Aviv
  • Date: 19th April 2007
  • Summary: (W2) JERUSALEM (APRIL 19, 2007) (REUTERS) US SECRETARY OF DEFENCE ROBERT GATES ARRIVES FOR MEETING WITH ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER EHUD OLMERT GATES SHAKING HANDS WITH OLMERT GATES AND OLMERT CONVENE MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER EHUD OLMERT SAYING "Within four months after taking over the Secretary of Defence, you already came to visit with us here.
  • Embargoed: 4th May 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA7C4SCEX2GZWMVRGSYBIRL6VXO
  • Story Text: U.S. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates arrived in Israel on Wednesday (April 18) to bolster a strategic alliance in the face of Iran's nuclear programme and lay to rest spats over Israeli arms sales to China dating back seven years.
    Gates held talks earlier on Thursday with the Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni at the David Continental hotel in Tel Aviv.
    The last Pentagon chief to come to Israel, which gets more than $2 billion in annual U.S. defence aid, was William Cohen in 1999 -- shortly before Washington quashed a lucrative Israeli radar deal with China over its concern for the safety of Taiwan.
    "Within four months after taking over the Secretary of Defence, you already came to visit with us here. While you know Israel very well because you visited Israel many times in the past, this is a unique perspective which I am sure will allow you to look at Israel, with an additional dimension which you did not have before in your other positions," Olmert told Gates as they convened their meeting in Jerusalem.
    Recently, Israel reshuffled senior Defence Ministry staff and pledged to tighten arms-export regulations after Pentagon officials complained about maintenance work on combat drones that Israel had provided to the Asian superpower.
    Israel, which is believed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal, has hinted it could take pre-emptive military action against Iran -- something that would likely require U.S. acquiescence but could risk alienating America's Arab allies.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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