US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth canceled a planned visit to Israel on Wednesday, amid renewed hostilities between Washington and Tehran and Israeli concerns over the possible sale of American F-35 stealth fighter jets to Turkey.

An Israeli official confirmed the planned visit and its cancellation to The Times of Israel following reports on the matter.

Hegseth was expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the trip, the official confirmed, but did not specify what the meeting was set to focus on or provide a reason for the cancellation.

Axios and CNN reported Tuesday that Hegseth was likely to meet on Wednesday with Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, partly to ease Israeli concerns over the possible F-35 sale to Turkey. However, Hebrew-language media reports, citing sources with knowledge of the matter, said late Wednesday morning that the visit, which would have been Hegseth’s first as Pentagon chief, had been cancelled.

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Tagged: Middle East BACK TO HOMEPAGE