Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir’s recent visit to Washington, DC included highly discreet meetings with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine and the entire senior team, in what was one of the most significant working channels in Israel-US relations - according to two senior diplomatic sources who spoke with The Jerusalem Poston Monday.
The meetings took place at The Pentagon and were held behind closed doors, with details kept tightly controlled on both sides, consistent with public reporting that Zamir held a secret weekend visit and met senior US defense officials.
Publicly, Zamir has held recent meetings with Brad Cooper, including during Cooper’s late-January trip to Israel.
The Post has learned that the Washington discussions included coordination mechanisms and intelligence sharing, with both sides exchanging assessments and operational lessons.
The second source added that the talks covered defensive and offensive capabilities relevant to shared contingencies, without providing operational details. The framing aligned with public reporting that the Zamir-Caine discussions occurred amid rising regional tension and renewed focus in Washington and Jerusalem on Iran.
The timing also fit a wider pattern of stepped-up allied consultations. Reuters reported that the meeting came as the US increased naval and air defense presence in the region and as tensions with Iran climbed.
The arrival in Washington of Israel’s head of Military Intelligence, Maj.-Gen. Shlomi Binder, roughly a week earlier, served as preparation for the chief of staff’s trip.
Separately, Axios reported that Binder visited Washington for high-level meetings tied to Iran-related intelligence and coordination.
According to one of the sources, the Washington session included Caine and teams from the Joint Staff.
The practical result has been a tighter, more routinized channel that connects battlefield learning, intelligence fusion, and contingency planning across Jerusalem, CENTCOM’s area of responsibility, and the top levels of the US military.
According to earlier reporting by The Jerusalem Post on Sunday, Zamir said he believed a potential US attack was about two weeks to two months away.
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