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What Makes U.S.-Israel Defense Ties so "Rock Solid?"
(Jerusalem Post) Anna Ahronheim, Michael Wilner - Three years into his tenure as chief of staff of the Israeli military, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot has a "rock solid" relationship with his American counterpart, General Joseph Dunford, sources around the general say. The two men have maintained a consistent and professional relationship throughout a period of diplomatic turbulence under the Obama administration and at the outset of a delicate, uncertain start to the Trump presidency. Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan, who was in Washington in April to meet Secretary for Veterans Affairs Dr. David Schulkin, said that he feels that "warm and friendly ties" between Jerusalem and Washington have grown since Trump entered the White House. According to Ben-Dahan, even Schulkin - who served as VA undersecretary of health under Barack Obama - "feels a different atmosphere under Trump." Defense Minister Avigdor and Secretary of Defense James Mattis have gotten off to a strong start, as well, according to their associates. Mattis and Liberman form another critical nexus in the defense relationship. "Mattis-Liberman seems to be a key axis - they've already met a few times," says David Makovsky, director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy Project on the Middle East peace process and a former senior State Department official. According to Chagai Tzuriel, the director-general of the Intelligence Ministry, several important things have changed since President Donald Trump took office in January. Senior Trump administration appointees in intelligence and defense seem to be on the same page with their Israeli counterparts on Iran- for the first time in years.