Aerial Exercises Show Off the Jewish State’s Diplomatic, as Well as Military, Strength https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/israel-zionism/2021/11/aerial-exercises-show-off-the-jewish-states-diplomatic-as-well-as-military-strength/

November 5, 2021 | Bradley Bowman, Jacob Nagel, Ryan Brobst
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Last week, the Israel Air Force held its biennial Blue Flag exercises, in which France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States all participated. Bradley Bowman, Jacob Nagel, and Ryan Brobst explain their significance:

Blue Flag 2021 marked a number of historic firsts. The exercise featured the first French Rafale fighter squadron in Israel, the first Indian Mirage fighter squadron in Israel, and the first British fighter squadron in Israel since the country was established in 1948. The participation of France, the United Kingdom, and India . . . suggests each government saw practical operational benefits from sending crews and aircraft to the Israeli exercise, and was happy to signal increased diplomatic support for the state of Israel.

This growing international recognition of Jerusalem’s role as a source of regional leadership and stability must be disappointing for the Islamic Republic of Iran and its terrorist proxies, who seek to attack and even to destroy the state of Israel. It must also be quite frustrating for those elsewhere who seek to delegitimize and isolate Jerusalem. Despite the efforts of Israel’s adversaries, Jerusalem now fields its most capable military ever and is more diplomatically integrated in the region than it has been since Israel’s founding.

Israel’s growing regional integration was demonstrated by the Blue Flag 2021 exercise’s most important first: the visit by the United Arab Emirates air-force commander Ibrahim Nasser Mohammed al-Alawi. [Increasing Israeli cooperation with Arab states also] was on full display on October 30 in a separate development when aircraft from Israel, Bahrain, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia (at different times) accompanied an American B-1B strategic bomber in its flight around the Arabian Peninsula. Riyadh’s willingness to participate for a second time this year in a multilateral patrol mission involving Israel is worth noting.

Read more on Defense One: https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2021/11/03/blue-flag-exercise-has-israels-enemies-seeing-red/