Israel and the US canceled a missile defense drill previously scheduled for April. The reasons aren't clear; officials made vague statements about "technical and logistical" problems.
It's also unclear whose idea it was to scratch the exercise; the Post says that
Talks about postponing the drill took the Americans, as well as the Israeli Air Defense division, responsible for missile defense, by surprise.
But according to Ynet,
Israeli officials said the Americans asked to delay the drill so as not to heighten tensions with Iran over its nuclear program and avoid drawing any additional attention from the Arab countries during such a turbulent period.
Meanwhile, Reuters, via Ha'Aretz, reports that Netanyahu is "disappointed" with the Obama administration's reluctance to approve tough sanctions on Iran. But Iran confirms receipt of a message by the United States regarding the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.
UPDATE: Israeli officials say "Washington wants to avoid causing further tensions in region after various foreign reports of U.S. and Israeli preparations for strike on Iran".
CNN has more. It's notable that some of these reports cite the desire to avoid "unwanted headlines" as the reason for the delay, rather than a rift between US and Israel.
