CIA Director Burns Holds Talks in Israel, with Focus on Iran

CIA director William Burns held talks in Israel on Wednesday with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. (Getty Images)
CIA director William Burns held talks in Israel on Wednesday with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. (Getty Images)
TT

CIA Director Burns Holds Talks in Israel, with Focus on Iran

CIA director William Burns held talks in Israel on Wednesday with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. (Getty Images)
CIA director William Burns held talks in Israel on Wednesday with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. (Getty Images)

US Central Intelligence Agency director William Burns held talks in Israel on Wednesday with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, with Iran high on their agenda, an Israeli statement said.

Regional tensions have risen over an attack on July 29 on an Israeli-managed tanker off the coast of Oman that Israel, the United States and Britain blamed on Tehran.

Iran has denied any involvement in the suspected drone strike in which two crew members - a Briton and a Romanian - were killed.

A statement issued by Bennett's office said the Israeli leader held talks with Burns in Tel Aviv, where "they discussed the situation in the Middle East, with emphasis on Iran, and possibilities for expanding and deepening regional cooperation".

Announcing Burns's visit, the statement said he met on Tuesday with David Barnea, the new head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, to discuss Iran's nuclear program "and other regional challenges".

Burns, who was sworn in as CIA director in March, was expected to meet Palestinian officials, including President Mahmoud Abbas, in the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.



Stabbing Attack on Woman in Israeli City of Herzliya

Israel police chief Daniel Levy and members of the Israeli security forces stand at the scene of a suspected attack near Herzliya, Israel, December 27, 2024. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
Israel police chief Daniel Levy and members of the Israeli security forces stand at the scene of a suspected attack near Herzliya, Israel, December 27, 2024. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
TT

Stabbing Attack on Woman in Israeli City of Herzliya

Israel police chief Daniel Levy and members of the Israeli security forces stand at the scene of a suspected attack near Herzliya, Israel, December 27, 2024. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
Israel police chief Daniel Levy and members of the Israeli security forces stand at the scene of a suspected attack near Herzliya, Israel, December 27, 2024. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

A Palestinian man stabbed an 83-year-old woman to death in the Israeli city of Herzliya, Israeli media reported on Friday.
Ambulance services said the woman was treated at the scene by paramedics and transferred in a critical condition to hospital. Israeli media reported she later died of her wounds.
Police said the attacker, a former security services informant from the northern area of the occupied West Bank, was caught and arrested.