Last update - 00:00 09/12/2007
Top U.S. military official to visit Israel for first time in 10 years
By Haaretz Service
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States Armed Forces, Admiral Michael Mullen is set to arrive in Israel on Sunday as the first U.S. military official of this rank to visit the country in a decade.
Mullen will meet with Israel Defense Forces Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
He will visit IDF military headquarters in Tel Aviv and participate in a military panel on intelligence and strategic issues and the challenges facing the IDF.
Mullen will also be informed of the development of the IDF's infrastructure based on a recently-implemented multi-year plan.
A statement issued by the IDF called Mullen's visit "an indication of the strategic cooperation and excellent working relations between the two countries [the U.S. and Israel] and between the IDF and the U.S. Armed Forces."
Mullen and Ashkenazi met last month at the NATO Chiefs of Staff Conference in Brussels. Mullen was sworn in to his post in October. He had previously served as Commander of the U.S. and NATO fleets in the Atlantic and in Europe. He visited Israel with his wife in May last year.
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