IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi left Israel on motzei Shabbos for a weeklong visit in the United States, where he is scheduled to meet with Vice President Dick Cheney and Chief of Joint Staffs Admiral Michael Mullen. He will also visit a number of military bases.

The timing of the visit is viewed as significant, especially since Mullen was recently in Israel and the two met. Most believe that the IDF commander will discuss Israeli options pertaining to the growing Iranian nuclear threat, with officials in both countries signaling that an Israeli attack against Tehran is possible even before the Bush administration leaves office.

Also pointing in the same direction is Israel’s large air force exercise that was conducted in Europe earlier this year which most military analysts viewed as a preparatory operation for an Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)