Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Israel’s defense ministry chief on first visit to DC

Amir Baram thanked U.S. Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby for his “steadfast support of Israel and his commitment to Israel’s security needs.”

Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Baram. Credit: Israel Ministry of Defense.
Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Baram. Credit: Israel Ministry of Defense.

Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Baram, director general of the Israeli Defense Ministry, is in Washington this week for his first visit since assuming the position on March 24.

Baram met with top U.S. officials, including Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby, to discuss expanding defense cooperation and addressing regional security challenges, the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Talks centered on joint defense production, research and development initiatives, and shared strategic assessments amid security challenges in the Middle East. Baram thanked Colby for his “steadfast support of Israel and his commitment to Israel’s security needs,” the statement said.

Baram is joined on the visit by senior defense officials, including Brig. Gen. (res.) Dror Shalom, head of the ministry’s Policy and Political-Military Bureau; Defense Attaché to the United States Brig. Gen. Heidi Zilberman; and the ministry’s Washington representative Omer Haim.

The U.S. vice president said Israeli officials sought to shape U.S. public opinion against the administration’s Iran strategy, rejected accusations that he is anti-Israel and defended maintaining a relationship based on shared interests.
A spokesperson for the organization told JNS that the updated report includes “anything that pertains to Zionism and Israel, including the ‘loyalty test’ for its members and declarations that show support or justification for terrorism, and that target Jewish people.”
“No one prosecuted these plaintiffs, fined them or sent them so much as a stern letter,” Mark Goldfeder of the National Jewish Advocacy Center told JNS. “They silenced themselves and then sued over the silence.”
The Anti-Defamation League told JNS that “the letter contains explicit, threatening language targeting Jewish people and relies on vile antisemitic tropes that have historically been used to incite violence.”
A new Quinnipiac University poll found that 51% of respondents view Gov. Josh Shapiro favorably, while 58% said they had not heard enough about state treasurer Stacy Garrity to form an opinion.
The virus is transmitted to people through the bites of infected mosquitoes.