WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bill Clinton said on Monday that an Israeli astronaut would fly on the U.S. space shuttle next year as part of expanded space cooperation with the new government of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

``America and Israel will be taking our partnership to new heights, literally,'' Clinton said at a joint news conference with Barak, at which the U.S. president also announced new security assistance to Israel and a joint Israeli-U.S. planning group on security issues.