US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an unannounced visit to Israel, according to a report by Axios.
The meeting took place on Monday between Hegseth, a hawkish ally of US President Donald Trump, and Netanyahu, the veteran Israeli leader facing a tightly contested parliamentary election. Axios reported the encounter, citing two sources familiar with the matter, reports Al Jazeera.
Reuters said it could not immediately confirm the visit. Neither the Pentagon nor Israel’s embassy in Washington immediately responded to requests for comment. There was also no immediate information on the specific topics discussed during the meeting.
The undisclosed meeting comes as President Trump has publicly endorsed Netanyahu ahead of next week’s parliamentary election. It will be the first election since the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October 2023 and the start of Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza.
In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Sunday, Trump praised Netanyahu as an ally of the US in its war against Iran and declared that he had his “Complete and Total Endorsement”.
“BIBI NETANYAHU WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” Trump posted.
Opinion polls indicate that Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist coalition is projected to lose its governing majority, although opposition parties may also struggle to form a government.
Meanwhile, US Vice-President JD Vance took a different position, explicitly declining to endorse Netanyahu in an interview earlier on Monday. He said he was not getting involved in Israeli elections.
Speaking to the digital media outlet 2WAY, Vance said, “I endorse American candidates, and that’s where I’m focused on is the midterms”.
Vance, who travelled to Budapest earlier this year to endorse Viktor Orban in the Hungarian elections, added, “I’m not anti-endorsing him, but I’m not pro-endorsing him; I’m not getting involved in Israeli elections”.
