
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned on Sunday that Israel is becoming increasingly isolated in the Middle East and said US security commitments should enable it to take "risks for peace." Panetta, who arrives in Israel on Monday for the first time since becoming Pentagon chief, said he would reaffirm US security commitments to Israel and try to help it improve its increasingly chilly relations with Turkey and Egypt. "It's pretty clear, at this dramatic time in the Middle East when there have been so many changes, that it is not a good situation for Israel to become increasingly isolated. And that is what has happened," Panetta told reporters on his plane. Panetta's visit to the Middle East, which includes meetings with Palestinian and Egyptian leaders, comes at a time when Arab popular demand for political change has buffeted the region, raising hopes, tensions and uncertainty. Protests toppled governments in Tunisia and longtime US ally Egypt earlier this year and touched off a civil war in Libya that led to the ouster of leader Muammar Gaddafi. But the changes have sometimes been unsettling. Egyptian protesters invaded the Israeli Embassy in Cairo a month ago in anger over a clash that killed five border guards. The military government's handling of that incident and comments afterward raised concerns about Cairo's future commitment to its peace deal with Israel, "The timing (of Panetta's visit) couldn't be more apt given the events unfolding in the region and broad <b>...</b>
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