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Israeli Defense Minister Cancels Visit to US
Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer has cancelled a 10-day trip to the United States, scheduled from Wednesday evening, "due to the security situation in Israel," a Defense Ministry spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
The decision was obviously related to the suicide bombing Monday night outside a train station near the northern Israeli city of Haifa, in which two Israelis and the Palestinian suicide bomber were killed, and 11 others injured, two of them seriously.
Ben Eliezer will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon later Tuesday, Israel Radio reported. Israeli media have speculated that the two may discuss further retaliation attacks against the Palestinians and the cancellation of the U.S. trip by the defense minister may herald massive attacks.
The Israeli army shelled the northern West Bank cities of Jenin and Tulkarm, the suspected launching pads of the suicide bomber, overnight in retaliation for the suicide bombing.
Israel and the Palestinians have been in bloody clashes since last September, which have left more than 600 people dead, most of them Palestinians.
Ben Eliezer was scheduled to meet with U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and other senior officials to ask for more U.S. military aids. He was also scheduled to meet with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.
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