Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Wednesday with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
During the meeting, Hegesth expressed appreciation for the activities of the IDF and for Israel's resilience in the face of security threats.
Hegseth told Netanyahu that he had been to Israel 8 or 9 times, had visited the Western Wall and seen the activities of the IDF. He added that he understood the complexities of Israelis living next to existential threat.
Hegseth further told Netanyahu that Israel has already demonstrated its capabilities in eliminating the leadership of Hamas and Hezbollah. He noted that all of this is significant for the US, as Israel has eliminated terrorists who killed US Marines.
He promised Netanyahu that the Trump administration will provide Israel with the ammunition that was not supplied by the Biden administration.
Netanyahu told Hegseth that the team appointed by Trump consists of people who are American patriots and friends of Israel. He added that Israel’s principle is that it fights its enemies by itself, and noted that the enemies refer to the US as “the Great Satan” and to Israel as “the Little Satan."
In response to a question about whether US troops would be sent to the Gaza Strip, Hegeseth replied that it does not make sense to do again what has been done there for years. He also stressed the need to think outside the box.