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U.S. Official Seeks New Ways to Guarantee Israel's Security
(Washington Post) Anne Gearan - Retired U.S. Marine Gen. John R. Allen, who is serving as a special adviser to both Secretary of State Kerry and Defense Secretary Hagel, has been seeking to identify Israel's potential security gaps and remedy what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had complained were outdated or incomplete assurances of cooperation and equipment from the U.S., officials said. Allen and his Israeli counterparts are seeking "effective, innovative and feasible options that could be proposed to political leaders," said a senior Obama administration official, who provided the first detailed account of Allen's mandate and progress. Addressing Israel's concerns about security threats coming from an independent Palestinian state next door at the front end of negotiations is the underlying premise of Allen's work. Israel's intelligence minister, Yuval Steinitz, who participated in meetings with Allen, said that Israel "had very bad experiences, even with massive deployments of UN forces. We can't trust only technology and international troops." Steinitz emphasized that Israel, "for real security," would need to maintain control of the Jordan Valley, as well as the air and sea space around any future Palestinian state, "for decades."