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U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield will make her first-ever visit to Israel next week, accompanied by her Israeli counterpart Gilad Erdan.
During her stay, the American diplomat will meet with President Issac Herzog, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz.
A meeting with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has not yet been confirmed, but the two had previously met in New York during the former's address to UN General Assembly in September.
Thomas-Greenfield was scheduled to visit Israel last year but postponed her trip due to coronavirus restrictions.
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Prime Minister Naftali Bennett meeting U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield in New York
(Photo: GPO)
IDF Chief of Military Staff Aviv Kochavi will accompany her on a tour of Israel's northern and southern border areas, where she will visit an Iron Dome missile defense battery deployed near Gaza, and the border crossings through which shipments and supplies enter the Hamas-controlled enclave.
In the north, the party will also visit tunnels dug by the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group, which were uncovered by the IDF in 2019. Thomas-Greenfield is also expected to meet Maj. Gen. Stefano Del Col, commander of UNIFIL — the UN's peacekeeping mission in Southern Lebanon.
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A tunnel dug by the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group on the Israel-Lebanon border
(Photo: Efi-Sharir)
Thomas-Greenfield is expected to travel to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian Authority officials before her return to the United States.
A meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has not been confirmed.