Panetta met Wednesday with his Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak in Tel Aviv and said the two countries have a "very close friendship." Barak echoed those comments.
"The defense ties between Israel and the United States are stronger and tighter than they have ever been and the credit now has to go, most of it, to you, Leon," Barak said as he greeted Panetta at the Israeli defense headquarters in Jerusalem.
Talks between Panetta and Barak are expected to focus in Iran which faces international sanctions over its disputed nuclear program.
Panetta said those discussions will focus on the threat Iran's nuclear program poses to Israel and the United States if its is developing nuclear weapons, and the various ways to respond.
He denied reports that the meetings would cover potential plans for a preemptive attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
“I think it's the wrong characterization to say that we're going to be discussing potential attack plans," he said. "What we are discussing is various contingencies of how we respond.”
But in interviews with Israeli television stations on Tuesday, Netanyahu said, "Iran wants to annihilate us. I won't let that happen."
Earlier this week, Netanyahu said he does not believe sanctions are working.
Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful means.
Meetings
Panetta's visit also includes talks with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres.
"We are a friend, we are a partner, we have, as the defense minister has pointed out, probably the strongest U.S.-Israel defense relationship that we have had in history," Panetta said, standing alongside Barak.
"What we are doing, working together, is an indication not only of our friendship but of our alliance to work together to try to preserve peace in the future," he said.
Panetta arrived in Israel from Egypt, where he met with newly elected President Mohamed Morsi. He described Morsi as being "his own man," despite his ties to the conservative Muslim Brotherhood, and said the Egyptian leader is committed to democratic reforms.
Panetta called U.S.-Egyptian military relations an anchor of regional stability for 30 years.
Since taking office, Morsi has had political run-ins with the country's powerful military. Despite these, Secretary Panetta said his meetings with Morsi and Egypt's military chief, General Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, left him believing that the country's democratic transition is on track.
“I was convinced that President Morsi is his own man and that he is the president of all the Egyptian people and that he is truly committed to implementing democratic reforms here in Egypt,” Panetta said.
Before stopping in Cairo, Panetta visited Tunisia - the site of the first Arab Spring popular uprisings last year, and praised what he said was the country's peaceful transition to democracy.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters
