Mossad Chief Heads Delegation to Washington for Talks on Syria

Local Editor

A delegation of "Israeli" war officials will visit Washington later this week for talks with senior White House and American war officials.

The "Israeli" delegation will be headed by Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, and he will be joined by the head of the "Israel" Occupation Forces Military Intelligence, Maj. Gen. Herzl Halevi, as well as the head of the War Ministry's political-security department, Zohar Palti.

A senior White House official said that the "Israeli" delegation will meet with US President Donald Trump's National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Power, Trump's special Mideast envoy, Jason Greenblatt, as well as other officials.

The White House official said that it was Greenblatt and Trump's senior adviser, Jared Kushner, who orchestrated the meeting.

"Talks will focus on 'Israel's' security needs vis-a-vis Syria and Lebanon, and will not deal with the 'Israeli'-Palestinian 'peace process'," the White House official said. "The delegation's arrival in Washington is a powerful sign of the trust between the "Israeli" and McMaster.

"Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Office said in response that the delegation's departure was part of routine security talks between the entity and the US.

One of the main issues that the "Israeli" delegation is expected to discuss in the talks is the cease-fire agreement in southern Syria and its ramifications. The "Israeli" entity is dissatisfied with the fact that its security interests were not reflected in the draft cease-fire agreement being formulated by the US and Russia.

A senior "Israeli" official said the delegation was expected to try to persuade senior administration officials that parts of the cease-fire agreement in southern Syria should be amended to include clearer statements about the need to remove Iranian and Hezbollah forces.

Mossad chief Cohen said in a security briefing to the government on Sunday that so far the "Israeli" entity's positions were not reflected in the cease-fire agreement in southern Syria, noting specifically the presence of Iranian forces in Syria.

"In places where the presence of ‘ISIS' is limited, Iran is acting to fill the void," he told the ministers. A few hours later, at a conference in Ashdod, Netanyahu said that the entity strongly opposes the military establishment of Iran and Hezbollah in Syria. "We will do everything necessary to maintain ‘Israel's' security," Netanyahu said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team