Rumsfeld due to visit Israel for first time since taking office
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/730804.html
By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent
6/25/2006
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is expected to visit Israel in the coming weeks for the first time since assuming his post in 2001.
The visit will be part of Rumsfeld's regional tour, which will also include Jordan and Egypt.
In Israel he is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz, and senior defense and security officials.
Rumsfeld is among the leaders of the Bush administration's hawks and has, in most cases, supported Israel in its confrontation with the Palestinians.
During the early 1980s Rumsfeld visited Israel as a special representative of the Reagan administration to the Middle East.
During Olmert's visit to the U.S. capital last month, the two agreed to work towards closer defense and security ties between the two countries, a relationship that suffered setbacks following the dispute over Israeli arms sales to China.
Rumsfeld's visit to Israel is expected to indicate that relations between the two defense establishments are "business as usual."
Peretz had planned to carry out his first official visit to the U.S. as Defense Minister, but decided to postpone it due to the escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip.
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is also expected to visit Israel this week. Gonzales, whose post in the American government is equivalent to that of Justice Minister, is one of President George W. Bush's closest advisors. He will give a lecture at Tel Aviv University on international law enforcement in the post-9/11 era.
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