U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was scheduled to make his first visit to Israel on Wednesday since taking office, but canceled the visit following the escalation of hostilities between the US and Iran.

Hegseth had been expected to fly to Israel from Turkey, where he is attending this year’s NATO summit in Ankara alongside President Trump. However, Israel received notice from the United States at the last minute that the visit had been called off.

According to CNN and Axios, Hegseth had been scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz to discuss Israel’s concerns regarding the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.

According to the report, the visit was intended to ease Israeli concerns over the dramatic move, which is expected to deprive Israel of the air superiority it has long maintained in the Middle East.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)