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Israel's Barak visits US in bid to heal rift
AFP - Monday, June 1
JERUSALEM (AFP) - - Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak will try to heal a growing rift with his country's main ally over the Middle East peace process when he starts talks with top officials in the United States on Monday.
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Barak is likely to devote a lot of time to easing tensions, although the talks were originally planned to focus mainly on bilateral defence ties and US-led international efforts to halt Iran's nuclear drive, an aide said.
During the three-day trip, he is expected to meet Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of Defence Robert Gates, National Security Adviser James Jones and President Barack Obama's special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell.
The defence chief is also expected to discuss US arms sales to Israel, including a request for it to buy up to 75 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in a deal worth as much as 15.2 billion dollars and other advanced weapon systems, a senior official said.
Barak's visit comes just two weeks after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held his first meeting with Obama in Washington, revealing deep divisions over ways to move forwards towards Middle East peace.
The hawkish premier sparked international criticism over his repeated refusal to endorse the creation of a Palestinian state, a bedrock principle of international peacemaking efforts over the past two decades.
Tensions have intensified, with Israel rejecting repeated US calls to halt all settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, the major part of the proposed Palestinian state.
Barak, a former prime minister and head of the centre-left Labour party, aims to use his personal ties to avert a crisis between Washington and Netanyahu's right-leaning government, a senior official told AFP.
But it remains unclear whether Barak will be able to ease the tensions as he himself has said that Israel must maintain its right to continue building within the boundaries of large settlement blocs.
"It seems that the prime minister made Israel's positions and needs clear to the US administration. The dialogue will take time and it will have many ups and downs," the Labour leader has told reporters.
One official said Barak will propose that within a short time Israel would dismantle dozens of illegal outposts in the West Bank if the United States lets Israel go on building inside existing settlements to meet "natural growth."
A senior Israeli official complained that Obama -- who has vowed to pursue Middle East peace talks as part of a changed approach to the region -- is placing unfair demands on the Jewish state.
"The Americans have demanded almost nothing from the Palestinians but are asking Israel to take steps that are a real sacrifice. These demands are unfair," he told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Despite discord over the Middle East peace talks, Obama eased Israeli concerns over his efforts to persuade Iran to halt its nuclear programme in direct negotiations, with the president saying the success of the dialogue would be assessed by the year's end.
"This dialogue ought to be short and should have milestones to check whether it is serious or not," Barak said recently. "I believe the chances that talks will halt Iran's nuclear programme are very low."
The former chief of staff reiterated that Israel would not rule out military action against nuclear sites in the Islamic republic.
"Israel believes that no option should be removed from the table," he said.
Israel, widely considered to be the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear armed power, suspects Iran is using its nuclear programme to develop atomic weapons, a charge Tehran has long denied.
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Enlarge Photo
A handout picture released by the Israeli Defense Ministry shows Defense Minister Ehud Barak visiting an army unity during a drill at an undisclosed location in Israel on May 26, 2009. Barak will try to heal a growing rift with his country's main ally over the Middle East peace process when he starts talks with top officials in the United States on Monday.
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