As mentioned, Austin was supposed to arrive in Israel this evening from his current visit to Cairo, and the original plan was for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant to meet him in Kirya – from where Netanyahu was supposed to travel to Benghazi and fly to Italy. However, the protests disrupted the schedules, and Israel requested that Austin delay his arrival tomorrow and that the meetings with Netanyahu and Gallant will be held close to Israel, before the Prime Minister’s departure with his wife to Rome. An extended meeting is also expected to be held at the Aerospace Industry Complex with the participation of Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and the Director General of the Ministry of Defense. From Tbilisi, Austin will continue straight to the USA.
Tomorrow, we will recall, the organizers of the protest promised to “jam” and disrupt the activity in Israel as part of what they call the “Day of Resistance to the Dictatorship”, by driving slowly on the roads in the area. The police announced that they would act to prevent them from disrupting traffic in Israel, and the Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir stated today that BBG is “out of bounds” – and promised to prevent what he once again described as “anarchy”.
Austin is currently in Cairo, as part of his extensive visit to the Middle East. He arrived in Egypt after his surprise and unplanned visit to Baghdad yesterday – a few days before the 20th anniversary of the American invasion of Iraq – after he also visited Jordan. In Israel, Austin is expected to ask Israel to act to reduce tensions in the territories of Judea and Samaria. The escalating Iranian threat is also expected to be at the center of his talks, with Tehran constantly continuing to enrich uranium and significantly shortening its “break-in time” for the bomb: according to the updated American estimate, it will only take 12 days to create fissile material for one atomic bomb.
From an American point of view, the situation now is similar to the one that prevailed in 2010-2012, when Barack Obama was president, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then Defense Minister Ehud Barak planned to attack Iran. That is why Milli landed here last Thursday, as the guest of Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi. Assuming the visit is not postponed to another day, Austin is also expected to arrive tomorrow, as mentioned, as the guest of Defense Minister Yoav Galant. By the way, it can be understood from various statements that Galant is considered by American officials to be a moderate and my affairs in the current government, that it is possible to talk to him and influence through him the discussions of the cabinet.
At the same time, the President’s House announced that it had canceled the ceremony of submitting the letter of commitment for new ambassadors that was planned to take place tomorrow morning, due to the demonstrations and blockades in the area of the President’s House and the Prime Minister’s residence on Gaza Street. Among other things, the first ambassador of Azerbaijan in Israel, as well as the ambassadors of Guatemala, Ecuador, Suriname, Malawi and Sri Lanka, were supposed to submit their credentials.