Israel’s Minister of Defense cancels visit to Pentagon amid Middle East conflict escalation

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant canceled a visit with Pentagon officials scheduled for Wednesday, amid a rapid escalation of the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East.

Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters during a briefing Tuesday that the Pentagon was informed Gallant had postponed his trip to Washington, D.C.

“Minister Gallant was traveling to the U.S. and the secretary welcomed him to the Pentagon to host him here for a bilateral meeting,” Singh said. “

One reporter asked Singh about reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Gallant not to go to Washington, which Singh said she was aware of, but preferred to stay out of Israeli politics.

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Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant checks troop readiness on the northern border with Lebanon amid fighting with Hezbollah. (Ariel Hermoni Communications Office for the Israeli Minister of Defense)

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, she noted, has a “great relationship” with Gallant, and the two have spoken in the neighborhood of 80 times.

“The remain in constant communication, whether it be an in-person meeting here, or, you know, meetings, phone calls that need to be done remote,” Singh explained. “That relationship still maintains and can be done…at any time, any place in the world…”

When asked if there were tensions between Austin and Gallant, Singh pushed back.

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Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, left, walks with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon in June. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“I don’t think there’s tension,” she said. “You can have direct conversations with your friends. You’re not always going to agree on everything, but that doesn’t mean that there’s tensions.”

During an exchange with Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst on Sunday, Gallant promised that Israeli forces are considering all options in terms of its response to Iran’s attacks against Israel — even potentially striking Iranian nuclear sites.

The interview came days after Israel invaded Lebanon as part of a mission to eliminate Hezbollah, on the heels of several successful strikes against the terrorist group. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that it had killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last weekend — prompting Iran to launch 181 retaliatory missiles in response.

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Smoke and flames rise in Beirut’s southern suburbs, after Israeli airstrikes on Sunday. (Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

“At the moment, everything is on the table,” the Israeli official said. “Israel will respond to the unprecedented Iranian attack in the manner of our choosing, and at the time and place of our choosing.”

President Biden told reporters last week that he would not support a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, but said Israel had the right to act “proportionately” to Iran. On Saturday, Vice President Kamala Harris vowed to send $157 million of “additional assistance” to Lebanon, which, she claimed, is “facing an increasingly dire humanitarian situation.”

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Amid the White House’s response to the IDF’s recent strikes, Gallant emphasized that he hopes the United States continues to cooperate with the Israeli military.

“It is important for us to hold discussions on strategic cooperation between our countries and defense cooperation in light of the threats posed by Iran and its proxies,” Gallant said. “We are powerful when we are aligned, and I want to make sure of it.”

Fox News Digital’s Andrea Margolis, Trey Yingst, Greg Norman, Stephen Sorace and Michael Lee contributed to this report.