Israel delegation to Washington for White House talks

 A delegation of Israeli defense officials will visit Washington later this week for talks with senior White House and American defense officials, Haaretz reported Tuesday. 
The delegation will be headed by Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, and he will be joined by the head of the Israel Defense Forces Military Intelligence, Maj. Gen. Herzl Halevi, as well as the head of the Defense Ministry's political-security department, Zohar Palti.
A senior White House official said that the Israeli delegation will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump's National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Power, Trump's special Mideast envoy, Jason Greenblatt, as well as other officials
The White House official said that it was Greenblatt and Trump's senior adviser, Jared Kushner, who orchestrated the meeting.
"Talks will focus on Israel's security needs vis-a-vis Syria and Lebanon, and will not deal with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process," the White House official said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Office said in response that the delegation's departure was part of routine security talks between Israel and the U.S.
One of the main issues that the Israeli delegation is expected to discuss in the talks is the cease-fire agreement in southern Syria and its ramifications.
A senior Israeli official said the delegation was expected to try to persuade senior administration officials that parts of the cease-fire agreement in southern Syria should be amended to include clearer statements about the need to remove Iranian forces, Hezbollah and Shi'ite militias out of Syria.

Source: Mena