Pictured Above: An IDF soldier standing guard at a military base in the Golan Heights, near Israel's border with Syria. Credit: IDF.

(JNS.org) Israeli government officials have expressed “grave concern” after a high-level defense delegation from the Jewish state met with U.S. officials in Washington, D.C., last week and failed to secure commitments regarding the situation in Syria and Lebanon.

The delegation, headed by Mossad intelligence agency Director Yossi Cohen, reportedly met with U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell, President Donald Trump’s international negotiations representative Jason Greenblatt and others.

Israeli intelligence officials said they presented the U.S. officials with “sensitive, credible and highly disturbing intelligence information” detailing Iran’s expanding military presence in Syria, including documents and photographs, Yedioth Ahronoth reported. 

The U.S. officials, however, purportedly did not commit to preventing the spread of Iranian influence in Syria. Delegation members noted “a kind of embarrassment and lack of a clear position” among Trump administration officials regarding America’s commitments in Syria and the Middle East. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin Aug. 23 in the Russian resort town of Sochi to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East. The issue of Iran’s military presence in Syria is reportedly high on the agenda for the upcoming meeting.

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