The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, has scrapped a visit to Israel that was put together in recent days, Israeli media reported on Friday.
Hegseth was planning to travel to Israel in the days ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit to the Gulf next week, sources familiar with his travel plans said.
But on Friday, Israeli media reported that the trip had been cancelled without elaborating.
The Pentagon had not made any official announcements regarding his travel to Israel, but it is expected that he will travel with Trump next week for the president’s first official overseas visit, which will take him to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
A senior US defense official told Al Arabiya English that Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Hegseth were all going to be in the Middle East at the same time. “So, it was just easier logistically for them all to fold into [the President’s] trip,” the official said.
Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said Hegseth did not cancel his trip to Israel. “He was asked to join President Trump’s Middle East trip next week & is honored to do so,” Parnell said in a post on X.
Israeli officials have been caught by surprise multiple times since Trump took office, despite a widespread belief that the US president would accept embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans for the region.
In recent days, Trump made a surprise announcement that the US and Yemen’s Houthi militia had agreed to a ceasefire in the Red Sea. And despite the announcement coming hours after Israel responded to a Houthi attack on Ben Gurion Airport, the truce did not include stopping Houthi attacks on Israel.
Last month, Trump revealed that the US and Iran were engaging in talks to reach a new nuclear deal. Sitting next to Trump in the Oval Office, Netanyahu was visibly surprised.
And before that, the Trump administration engaged in direct talks with Hamas over the release of American hostages being held in Gaza, much to the chagrin of Netanyahu and his government.
One common theme the US and Israel agree on is not allowing Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. Netanyahu has been lobbying for a direct strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities but was held back last month by Trump. Trump has threatened military force if Iran does not agree to a new deal. The fourth round of talks between Washington and Tehran is expected to be held in the coming weeks.
Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, has been accused by many pro-Israeli sides in Washington of being weak and appeasing Iran.
Witkoff hit back at critics during an interview aired on Friday and said Trump does not think military force is “productive in many circumstances.”
In the interview with Breitbart News, Witkoff said attacks on his negotiations with Iran were a result of a “neocon element” that “believes war is the only way to solve things.”
