Barak to meet with Panetta in Washington

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta on Feb. 14. Photo by REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is traveling to Washington to meet with his U.S. counterpart, Leon Panetta, and other key U.S. security officials.

Barak, who left Israel on Monday, is arriving just days before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet President Obama in the U.S. capital.

The frequency of such meetings has intensified in recent months as Israel and the United States seek to coordinate their strategies for keeping Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

In addition to Panetta, Barak will meet with Vice President Joe Biden, National Security Adviser Tom Donilon and “leaders of the defense and intelligence establishment, as well as senators,” a release from the Israeli defense chief’s office said.