Hagel to visit Israel in April
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will follow President Obama with his own visit Israel in April, on what likely will be just his second trip outside of the United States. Hagel’s visit would come roughly one month after President Obama’s historic ongoing visit to the Jewish state. The trip was made public by the Israeli defense ...
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will follow President Obama with his own visit Israel in April, on what likely will be just his second trip outside of the United States.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will follow President Obama with his own visit Israel in April, on what likely will be just his second trip outside of the United States.
Hagel’s visit would come roughly one month after President Obama’s historic ongoing visit to the Jewish state. The trip was made public by the Israeli defense ministry on Wednesday and reported by Agence France Presse.
“Hagel looks forward to visiting Israel soon,” Pentagon’s assistant press secretary Carl Woog tells the E-Ring. But the Pentagon is not confirming any dates, which is in line with typical security practices for the defense secretary’s international travel.
Hagel was hotly criticized before his confirmation as being no friend to Israel, drawing opposition from some Jewish and conservative pro-Israel groups. But the secretary repeatedly assured the Senate and American public that he supported Israeli security completely and would fall in line with Obama administration policies. Once in office, Hagel made former Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak the first foreign defense minister he welcomed to the Pentagon.
Barak said in Washington last month such criticism was exaggerated.
“I met the new Secretary of Defense of the US, and I found someone who supports Israeli security,” Barak later said in his final speech to the Israeli parliament, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Kevin Baron is a national security reporter for Foreign Policy, covering defense and military issues in Washington. He is also vice president of the Pentagon Press Association. Baron previously was a national security staff writer for National Journal, covering the "business of war." Prior to that, Baron worked in the resident daily Pentagon press corps as a reporter/photographer for Stars and Stripes. For three years with Stripes, Baron covered the building and traveled overseas extensively with the secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, covering official visits to Afghanistan and Iraq, the Middle East and Europe, China, Japan and South Korea, in more than a dozen countries. From 2004 to 2009, Baron was the Boston Globe Washington bureau's investigative projects reporter, covering defense, international affairs, lobbying and other issues. Before that, he muckraked at the Center for Public Integrity. Baron has reported on assignment from Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and the South Pacific. He was won two Polk Awards, among other honors. He has a B.A. in international studies from the University of Richmond and M.A. in media and public affairs from George Washington University. Originally from Orlando, Fla., Baron has lived in the Washington area since 1998 and currently resides in Northern Virginia with his wife, three sons, and the family dog, The Edge. Twitter: @FPBaron
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