Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel on Thursday planning to relay U.S. concern that escalating tensions in the occupied West Bank could distract the allies from their effort to counter Iran.
Austin, who is on a regional tour, landed in Ben Gurion Airport for a visit that had been hastily rescheduled because of a surge in street protests of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to overhaul the judiciary.
Hours earlier, Israeli forces killed three Islamic Jihad gunmen in the West Bank, among territories that has seen simmering violence amid the Palestinians' long-stalled goal of statehood.
"Secretary Austin is perfectly capable of having conversations about both issues [West Bank and Iran]," said a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
But Israel's preoccupation with the West Bank "detracts from our ability to focus on what the strategic threat is right now, and that is Iran's dangerous nuclear advances and continuing regional and global aggression," the official said.
He was greeted on the tarmac by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and he was scheduled to have a meeting with his counterpart and Netanyahu at a nearby aerospace industry compound. Austin had originally been due to arrive on Wednesday and stay overnight in Tel Aviv, where Israel's Defense Ministry is based. But those plans were changed due to concern about traffic disruptions from the anti-Netanyahu protests.
"Austin is committed to Israel's security, but one of the dominant ways in which we've been able to work together and strengthen that relationship is because we're two democracies that share values," the U.S. official said, adding that those values included the right to protest.
Among West Bank flashpoints concerning the United States is the village of Huwara, where the February 26 killing by a Palestinian gunman of two brothers from a Jewish settlement triggered revenge riots by settlers.
The rampage triggered worldwide outrage and condemnation, which was increased when ultra-nationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has responsibility for aspects of the West Bank administration, said Huwara should be "erased."
Smotrich later offered a partial retraction. He is due to appear at a Washington fund-raising event on Sunday. The hosts originally said an unnamed U.S. government official would also attend, but that has now been dropped from the promotional ad.
There has been no sign of any let-up in the violence ahead of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover festival.
Since the beginning of the year, Israeli forces have killed more than 70 Palestinians, including militant fighters and civilians; in the same period, Palestinians have killed 13 Israelis and one Ukrainian woman in apparently uncoordinated attacks.
