Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz held a call with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Thursday, said Gantz’s office in a statement.
The defense ministers “discussed regional developments, including the need to stop the Iranian nuclear program from advancing and U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan,” added the statement.
Gantz conducted a brief but intensive visit this summer to the United States, where he helped secure a restock of $1 billion worth of Iron Dome interceptors, weeks after Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip fought an 11-day conflict that saw Palestinian terror factions firing more than 4,000 rockets at Israeli population centers.
Under an Israeli-American ten-year MOU signed in 2018, the United States contributes $500 million a year towards Israel’s multi-layered defense systems.