WarSclerotic

The Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, Gen. Mark A. Welsh, completed a secretive week-long visit to Israel in recent days, ahead of the expected arrival of the Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff, Martin Dempsey, due here on Monday.

News of Welsh’s arrival was broken by the Walla news agency and independently confirmed by The Jerusalem Post, though few details about his visit are available.

Welsh arrived as a guest of Israel Air Force chief Maj.-Gen. Amir Eshel.

According to Walla, the visit was kept secret due to an American request for confidentiality, in light of regional tensions and against the background of Israeli threats to strike Iran if it continues developing its nuclear program.

The report added that the visit, Welsh’s first to Israel, was highly productive and produced “new channels of communications.”

Dempsey, who will arrive as a guest of IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz, is expected to discuss developments in Iran, Syria, and Egypt with Israeli leaders.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has signaled that Israel’s patience is running out over Tehran’s nuclear progress, and Dempsey might use the visit to guage Israeli intentions, and possibly to try and convince Israel to refrain from dramatic decisions in the near future, in order to give diplomacy with newly-inaugurated Iranian President Hassan Rohani a chance.

Ongoing instability in Syria, the country’s chemical weapons arsenal, and the growing radical jihadi presence in the country will likely form another top-priority point for discussions during the visit.