WASHINGTON _ The abrupt resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has left Israel, America's closest ally in the Middle East, confounded as it comes to grips with the even greater implications of the U.S. military withdrawal from Syria that prompted Mattis' departure.
Combined with the departures of chief of staff John Kelly and Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Israeli officials are scrambling to determine who is left in the White House who can persuade President Donald Trump to think of Israel before taking such drastic security moves, as Mattis successfully did in the past, U.S. and Israeli officials said.
"There is no question that Israeli officials are concerned about the U.S. pulling out," said Dan Shapiro, U.S. ambassador to Israel in the Obama administration. "It was done without any meaningful consultation with them."
