Israeli Defense Minister flew to the US for meetings with top Obama administration officials regarding Iran, Turkey and PA

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak flew to the United States on Wednesday for meetings with top Obama administration officials regarding Iran, and as part of an effort to seek a resolution to Israel’s current standoff with Turkey and the Palestinian Authority, reported Jerusalem Post.

According to the daily, Barak will meet on Thursday with Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and hold his first work meeting with newly-appointed Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, who took up his post earlier this month. On Friday, he will fly to New York and meet with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Defense officials said that Barak will bring up the ongoing stalemate with Turkey over Israel’s reluctance to apologize for last year’s aggressive operation which stopped the Mavi Marmara, as well as possible ways to stop the Palestinian Authority from moving forward with its plans to unilaterally declare statehood at the UN General Assembly in September.