US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has cancelled a planned visit to Israel, where he was scheduled to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, according to a source cited by The Jerusalem Post. Hegseth remains in Ankara with US President Donald Trump for the NATO summit, following overnight US military strikes on Iran.
US Strikes on Iran Trigger Cancellation
Washington said the attacks were in retaliation for Iranian strikes on three commercial tankers near the Strait of Hormuz. Speaking at the NATO summit in Turkiye, President Trump accused Iran of violating the ceasefire, calling Iranians “sick people” and suggesting the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was effectively over, further straining an already fragile ceasefire.
F-35 Sale to Turkiye Considered
Hegseth had been set to arrive in Israel from Turkiye, where Trump said Tuesday that he would “certainly consider” selling F-35 fighter jets to Ankara, as he sat alongside Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan ahead of the NATO summit. The potential sale marks a major shift in US-Turkey relations, which had been strained over Ankara's purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems.
