Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, travelled on Monday, October 3 to Israel and met with Israeli government and security officials. Secretary Panetta was welcomed by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak at the Ministry of Defense Headquarters in Tel Aviv where he surveyed an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) honor guard, and met in private with the Israeli defense chief and his staff. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then welcomed him to his office in Jerusalem. Finally, before heading back to Tel Aviv, Secretary Panetta laid a wreath at the Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum and signed the guestbook. It read: "This has been a very moving experience for me personally. What we learn here commits all good people to work together to ensure it never happens again. May God bless those who gave their lives so that we could live."

Photo credit: Matty Stern/U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv