On Thursday, the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is expected to arrive in the Jewish state for his second visit to the region since assuming office. His tenure has seen closer cooperation between the IDF and the American military, as a result of the Pentagon’s decision in 2020 to place Israel in the area of responsibility of its Central Command (CENTCOM)—which includes the Middle East and Afghanistan—rather than its European Command. David Levy and Shay Shabtai survey the effects of this change:
Security cooperation with Arab states, multinational exercises, and frequent visits by the CENTCOM commander are all indications of Jerusalem’s deepening role as a regional power.
The long-term implications of Israel’s shift to CENTCOM have yet to reveal themselves. However, at the second anniversary of the shift, some effects are already evident. Israel will now participate in CENTCOM’s review and updating of Middle East Concept of Operations, or war plans. CENTCOM will help sway Arab states into allowing the Israeli Air Force to use their airspace to conduct distant operations. Future operations may even include refueling and other logistics support in these states.
In November, Israel and the U.S. held a joint exercise that drilled in long-range strike capability and inflight refueling. Potential adversaries, like Iran, recognize the capabilities displayed and the message sent by such exercises. Earlier this year, the IDF participated in the massive U.S.-led International Maritime Exercise (IMX) hosted in Bahrain. Through these exercises, the IDF is learning to work in a multinational force with other USCENTCOM partners. On a personal level, IDF personnel have and will continue to have positive interactions with the personnel of the U.S. and Arab militaries.
As Levy and Shabtay explain, there are very concrete advantages as well, such as the integration of the sophisticated missile-defense systems used by both countries. For instance, the electronic sensors of an American vessel in the Persian Gulf could detect a missile launched toward Israel and immediately pass the information to Israeli anti-missile batteries, making a successful interception more likely.
Read more on BESA Center: https://besacenter.org/israels-move-to-uscentcom-is-transformational/