The Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, David Goldfein, visited Israel.
Goldfein participated in the joint military exercise of the Blue Flag, a 10-day exercise in which 70 fighters of five air forces faced each other in 19 outings through six different locations in the country.
The exercise ended on Thursday and continued despite the hundreds of rockets fired at civilians in southern and central Israel from Gaza.
Goldfein met Friday with the Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Aviv Kohavi, and the commander of the Israeli Air Force, Amikam Norkin, who presented Goldfein with the Medal of Recognition to the Chief of Staff.
Goldfein and Norkin allegedly flew together and “discussed military cooperation between the two countries, the exercise of the Blue Flag, the transition of the air force to fifth-generation fighters, as well as security, cooperation and strategic issues,” said the IDF in a statement.
He met with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Thursday night. Rivlin stressed the importance of US support for Israel’s security policy, and unprecedented cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries in joint exercises and other fields, read a statement from his office.
“The United States and Israel enjoy a strong and lasting military-military alliance, one that we have built on the basis of trust developed over decades of cooperation. What an honor and privilege to be here in Israel today. We thank you all for your hospitality, and we hope to build on our already strong partnership,” Goldfein told Rivlin.
Source: Israelnoticias
