US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark A. Milley, February 14, 2023
Israel hosted the top US military officer, General Mark Milley, Friday for discussions that it said included the need for cooperation to deny Iran nuclear weapons.
Milley made the previously unannounced visit ahead of a trip to Israel by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that will also include neighboring Egypt and Jordan - US-aligned Arab states that have influence on Israeli-Palestinian affairs.
"Ongoing cooperation is required in order to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's office quoted him as telling Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Milley made no public remarks in Israel. His spokesperson said Milley discussed regional security issues and "coordination to defend against threats posed by Iran" in his talks with Chief of the Israeli General Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi.
Amid its long-stalled negotiations with world powers on renewing a 2015 nuclear deal, Iran has made advances with technologies that could potentially yield it a bomb. Tehran denies having any such plan.
In January, the United States and Israel held what one US official described as the allies' most significant joint military exercise to date, involving thousands of forces, a dozen ships and 142 aircraft, including nuclear-capable bombers.
Milley's trip also comes amid spiraling violence in the West Bank, with stepped-up Israeli military raids following a spate of Palestinian attacks. Fears of escalation ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover festival have prompted the United States, Jordan and Egypt to appeal for calm.