Exclusive: Blinken seeks to get private briefing from IDF chief

In response to an inquiry Israel Hayom, the Prime Minister’s Office stated: “The meeting will take place as usual, as part of the meeting with the prime minister.” No response was received from the State Department.

By Shirit Avitan Cohen, Israel Hayom  02-06-2024

The US has made an unusual request ahead of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Israel this week.

According to information obtained exclusively by Israel Hayom, the request was that the US top diplomat receive a separate briefing with IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi without Israeli cabinet ministers present. However, Israel Hayom has learned that the Prime Minister’s office rebuffed that idea and Blinken will receive the security briefing would remain the same as previous visits, presumably as part of a larger meeting with the War Cabinet.

A request from a senior foreign official for a one-on-one meeting with the IDF chief of staff in the middle of a war is rare, even when coming from the US. In response to an inquiry by ael Hayom, the Prime Minister’s Office stated: “The meeting will take place as usual, as part of the meeting with the prime minister.” No response was received from the State Department.

Blinken is expected to arrive in Israel in the coming days after visiting Saudi Arabia and Egypt against the backdrop of American efforts to seal another hostage deal and a ceasefire and pave the way for a normalization process that includes recognition of a Palestinian state.

After his visit to Egypt, Blinken was expected to land in Qatar, and from there he is supposed to arrive in Israel towards the end of the week.

February 8, 2024 | 3 Comments »

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  1. Netanyahu’s half-smile, in front of Blinken’s frozen gaze, basically says: I’ve been here for 15 years exactly for this. to stop you.

    I would normally suggest that Blinken is being cheeky but this goes a little further to CHUTZPAH, or chutzpeh in the tongue of Brooklyn.

  3. From Yossi Baum on X:

    This is crazy in so many ways:

    1. Is there another country in which Linken dared to demonstratively ‘ask’ the Chief of Staff to meet without the elected leader?

    2. This violation of all minimum rules of etiquette, if it happened, was not just meant to upset. Its purpose was to be the image of victory of the military coup that we are experiencing here for almost a year.

    3. The prime minister by remote control was Blinken, the acting prime minister was Ehud Barak, the director general of the prime minister’s office was Herzi Halevi, and the phalanx organization Brotherhood of Arms, the one in Blinken ran to visit when the blood of the massacred was not yet Dry – would have accepted the role of the “Revolutionary Guards” of this putsch.

    4. It would not have made us another star on the US flag, by the way. They are ready to sell us for free.

    5. Netanyahu’s half-smile, in front of Blinken’s frozen gaze, basically says: I’ve been here for 15 years exactly for this. to stop you.

    2