Tel Aviv. In recent days, Israel has supplied the US military high command with real time evidence that Iran is continuing to work on its nuclear program.
Israeli Defence Minister Beni Gantz and Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi met on January 29 the Commander of the Central Command of the United States Army (Centcom) General Kenneth Mackenzie. This is for the first time since Israel came under the responsibility of the command and since then President Joe Biden has taken office.
On January 27, a United States Air Force (USAF) B-52H bomber was spotted flying over the Gulf. In recent weeks the heavy bombers made similar flights.
Head of the Israeli Mossad Yossi Cohen has also briefed General Mackenzie. In this meeting the heads of the Iranian section of the Mossad briefed the American General about the “smallest details” of the Iranian nuclear program.
According to the defence minister’s office, Gantz welcomed the decision to put Israel under the responsibility of the United States Central Command.
According to the US decision, the operational cooperation between the US armed forces and the Israel defense forces (IDF) will now be coordinated by CENTCOM. Until now this coordination was in the responsibility of the US European command.
The US Air Force and Israeli Air Force regularly train together, including in the October 2020 Enduring Lightning III—the third time the two nations have trained together with F-35s.
In an official announcement, the Pentagon called the move a “sign of the changing political environment in the Middle East.”
CENTCOM is one of 11 US Defense Department unified combatant commands and is responsible for the command and control of all US military forces in the Middle East, including Egypt as well as Central Asia and parts of South Asia.
“The easing of tensions between Israel and its Arab neighbors subsequent to the Abraham Accords has provided a strategic opportunity for the United States to align key partners against shared threats in the Middle East,” the Defense Department said in a statement.
“Israel is a leading strategic partner for the United States, and this will open up additional opportunities for cooperation with our US Central Command partners while maintaining strong cooperation between Israel and our European allies.”
All these briefing have one aim-to prove to Washington that Iran is galloping towards a bomb deceiving the world.
Mackenzie arrived in Israel on January 26. Sources at the defence minister’s office pointed to the importance of the visit in the context of regional threats and the forthcoming negotiations with Iran, and estimated that Israel’s move to Central Command and Mackenzie’s visit would expand future cooperation with Sunni Arab states, especially against common threats, apparently addressing Iran.
Last month, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, of the United States Army, General Mark A. Milley, also arrived in Israel for his longest visit out of three in the past year. He met the IDF’s chief of staff and other high ranking officers.
Israeli sources said that in all the meetings with high ranking US army officers, their Israeli counterparts “opened everything” meaning that they were showing the full updated data about the Iranian nuclear program.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist
