Panetta urges Israel to mend ties with Egypt, Turkey

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta urged Israel to try and end its increasing regional "isolation" by repairing diplomatic ties with Egypt and Turkey and renewing peace efforts with the Palestinians.

"Unfortunately, over the past year, we've seen Israel's isolation from its traditional security partners in the region grow, and the pursuit of a comprehensive Middle East peace has effectively been put on hold," he said.

But Panetta added in a speech that Israel was not entirely to blame for its difficult position and the U.S. ally was the subject of an "international campaign" designed to isolate the country.

The U.S. defense chief said he understands Israel's anxieties over turmoil in the Middle East but said the Arab spring offered an opportunity for the country to forge a more secure place in the region.

It was crucial for Israel to reach out and "mend fences" with countries such as Turkey, Egypt and Jordan that he said share an interest in regional stability, said Panetta, who issued similar appeals in a visit to the region in October.

He said he was "troubled" over the direction of Turkish-Israeli relations and called on both countries "to do more to put their relationship back on track."

As for Egypt, he said the United States shared Israel's concerns about security in the Sinai peninsula and over the recent attack on the Israeli embassy in Cairo.

But the best response was to step up "communication and cooperation with Egyptian authorities" instead of "stepping away from them," he said.

Israel needed "to lean forward on efforts to achieve peace with the Palestinians," Panetta said at an event organized by the Brookings Institution's Saban Center for the Middle East, a Washington think-tank.

He also repeated his view that a strike against Iran would only delay its nuclear project by one to two years and would run the risk of "unintended consequences" for the region.