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26 April 2024

Syrian violence tops Panetta's agenda

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta takes questions from the media at the Fairmont Hotel after a meeting with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on July 31, 2012 in Cairo, Egypt. Secretary Panetta is on a four day trip to the Middle-East with stops in Tunisia, Egypt, Israel and Jordan before returning to Washington. (GETTY IMAGES)

Published
By AP

Israel's threats to attack Iran and the violence convulsing Syria top the agenda of U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's meetings Wednesday with Israeli government leaders.

Panetta arrived in Israel on Tuesday after meeting in Cairo with Egypt's new president and its military chief.

In Cairo, Panetta denied Israeli press reports that he planned to share with the Israelis any U.S. plans for military action against Iran. He said the reports gave a "wrong characterization" of what he and the Israeli leaders were expected to discuss.

He said his talks in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak would be more about what threat Iran's nuclear program represents and about sharing intelligence information.