美国以色列官员会面讨论安全问题

The U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs' of Staff has arrived in Israel for official meetings with Israel’s Chief of Staff and other top military officials. While in Israel the parties are expected to discuss a range of topics, including the U.S. deal with Iran and the changing face of the ongoing conflict in Syria.

General Joseph Dunford started his tenure as U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman less than three weeks ago.  Israel is the destination he chose for his first official visit abroad

General Dunford brings a message: The U.S. remains committed to military cooperation with Israel and Israel’s security. But he’s also here to talk about the current Russia bombing campaign in Syria

Russia’s military has been striking targets in Syria since September as part of what the Russian government says is an effort to stabilize Syria’s government and push a political compromise in the five-year Syrian civil war. Off the record, Israel’s leaders favor keeping Syria’s current government in place. But the Russian campaign presents a conundrum.

“Because Iran and Hezbollah are providing the manpower... the ground forces for Assad’s offensive... then Russia will provide them with weapons and that these weapons will eventually be directed at Israel," said Michael Horowitz, Syria analyst.

And there’s the thorny issue of fighting inside Syria that sometimes edges so close to the Israel-controlled Golan Heights that errant mortar fire falls into Israeli territory

“I talked about Quneitra and Daraa..There’s rebels there. What will happen if there’s an offensive and Assad is losing there? Does that mean that Russia will not intervene? And then you’ll have Russian airforce and Israeli airforce head to head in a region that is very strategic for Israel. So it’s going to be very problematic,” Horowitz said.

There’s no known agreement for those type case scenarios. But Russia’s airforce reportedly warned Israeli pilots advancing on Syria border airspace this weekend to turn back...an indication of the direction any future agreement could take. The U.S. chairman and his Israeli military counterparts have plenty to talk about.