US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has canceled his planned visit to Israel next week, which would have been his first since assuming office, as reported by The Jerusalem Post. He was set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel Katz but will instead accompany President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations, where discussions will occur regarding arms deals and nuclear cooperation, with Trump’s stance softening on Saudi normalization with Israel. This shift follows previous Biden administration conditions linking normalization to a peace agreement with Israel.