IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi is traveling to the United States Thursday night for five days of official meetings.
Lt.-Gen. Ashkenazi is scheduled to discuss professional matters with James Jones, a retired Marine and President Barack Obama's American National Security Advisor, as well as with commanders of the different branches of the U.S. military, and other military and security officials in Washington DC. He will also be meeting with Dennis Ross, Special Advisor for the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Both Jones and Ross served as U.S. envoys in the Middle East under previous American administrations.
The Chief of Staff will be accompanied by the IDF Defense Attache in Washington Maj.-Gen. Benny Gantz, IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Avi Benayahu, IDF Strategic Division Commander Brig.-Gen. Yossi Heymann, and Lt.-Gen. Ashkenazi's Bureau Chief Lt.-Col. Dudi Oberman. Ronit Ashkenazi, the General's wife, will also be joining him for the duration of the trip.
In addition to his meetings with American security personnel, Lt.-Gen. Ashkenazi will meet with senior American journalists, with various civilian government officials, and with Henry Kissinger, former U.S. Secretary of State. Other civilian organization leaders with whom the IDF General will meet include the heads of AIPAC, the American pro-Israel lobbying group, and the heads of the New York Jewish Federation. The Chief of Staff will also be a guest of honor at the annual "Supporters of the IDF" convention in New York City, where he will address the participants.
The IDF Chief of Staff's working visit to the United States will conclude on Tuesday, March 17. During Lt.-Gen. Ashkenazi's absence, he will be replaced in the IDF hierarchy by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Maj.-Gen. Dan Harel.
Lt.-Gen. Ashkenazi's previous visit to the US, his first as the IDF Chief of Staff, took place in late July 2008. At the end of last month, the head of U.S. European Command, General John Craddock, visited Israel for a series of meetings regarding missile defense systems and strategies.