‘United States looking at all possibilities’ on Iran

Approximately 3,000 U.S. military personnel are reportedly deployed in Israel as the Pentagon positions additional forces in the Middle East in preparation for the possibility of further regional escalation with Iran.

A report by Walla in recent days said the US military is preparing to transfer additional forces to Israel, adding that the current deployment includes air defense teams, pilots and supporting technicians, logistics crews, headquarters staff and others.

A third aircraft carrier to the Middle East

The United States has also deployed a third aircraft carrier to the Middle East, along with additional Marines, ahead of the US midterm elections next month. The USS Theodore Roosevelt and additional US Marines were described by international media reports as en route to the region for an extended deployment, having departed the West Coast.

The USS Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group also departed San Diego, carrying the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, a force of about 2,200 personnel, along with roughly 2,000 sailors aboard the group’s three ships.

Brig. Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, director of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and former head of the Analysis and Production Division of the IDF’s Directorate of Military Intelligence, told JNS on Tuesday that there were two factors behind the recent reported deployments.

"Israel is relatively the safest place in the Middle East"

“One, the Americans are looking at all possibilities, and that’s why they are massing forces in the Middle East, including in preparation for the possibility of an escalation,” said Kuperwasser.

“Israel is relatively the safest place in the Middle East, because this is the place the Iranians are careful not to attack. So forces can be stationed here with relative security. It’s also a place where the aerial defense is the best, not that it’s perfect—nowhere is—but it is better, as we have seen, than in other places. So that’s an additional incentive to station forces in Israel as well.

“This is, of course, not at the expense of positioning forces elsewhere. The Americans continue to station forces elsewhere, but also in Israel, assuming this information is correct.”

Israel will want to maximize the joint power of the US and Israel against the Iranians

Kuperwasser said he did not view the US presence as a complication for the IDF or independent Israeli decision-making.

“The IDF, in any case, if the US renews military activity against Iran, will presumably be asked to carry out its own part and participate in such a military effort, and the IDF is preparing for it. Israel will want to maximize the joint power of the U.S. and Israel in activity against the Iranians, in order to inflict the highest possible toll on Iran, and ultimately bring them to accept, if necessary, giving up the nuclear program,” he said.

‘Israel is a team player’

He said Israel was not seeking to act unilaterally.

“Israel is currently playing as a team player. It is subordinating its military to American wishes. It will not put the Americans in an embarrassing position where they need to be in the back and Israel in front.”

The Jewish Institute for National Security of America, a Washington-based policy group, stated in a report published in March that the United States carried out the first-ever operational deployment of US combat aircraft to Israel, sending 11 F-22 stealth fighters to Ovda Air Force Base in southern Israel just before Operation Epic Fury.

Israeli bases become a regional CENTCOM hub for prepositioning

The report recommended that Israeli bases “become a regional CENTCOM hub for prepositioning, combined exercises, planning, and even operations.”

Retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, former commander of US Central Command, told a webinar in June that the United States needs to “look West” and shift its basing posture from the Gulf toward Israel, assessing that U.S. forces would face fewer access, basing and overflight restrictions in Israel than in any other country in the region.

Jonathan Ruhe, a fellow for American strategy at JINSA, said the reported troop numbers point to an evolving but still incomplete shift in US posture, falling short of a full commitment by either side to a “semi-permanent US presence” in Israel.

The United States is trying to lessen its dependence on permanent bases in the Gulf

“The recent, sudden expansion of US presence reflected ready-made opportunities in Israel: certain bases like Ovda are built to US specifications, Israel maintains high readiness at its bases, and it already had some surge capacity for the rapid influx of American aircraft, personnel, and materiel for [Operation] Epic Fury,” he said.

“But a more permanent and shared basing posture entails tough political decisions from both sides to fund it. Especially after its recent losses, the United States is trying to lessen its dependence on permanent bases in the Gulf, in favor of rotating forces through multiple countries, like Israel, that are farther from Iran.”

Asked whether a sizable US military contingent inside Israel affects the IDF’s operational independence, Ruhe said it was unlikely to do so.

US presence as an entangling tripwire

“It’s likely to affect more mundane, but still important, logistical and budgetary issues like munitions and fuel storage, military construction, and quality of life for personnel stationed there,” he said.

“A key factor that works in both Israel’s and America’s favor is the fact that Israel doesn’t want a US presence as an entangling tripwire. Israel is unique in the Middle East because it sees shared basing as a chance to boost both countries’ freedom of action.”

© JNS