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JERUSALEM (AP) \u2014 Israel\u2019s defense minister on Monday said that Israel is helping build a U.S.-led regional air-defense alliance against Iran, and that the partnership has already thwarted attempted Iranian attacks.<\/p>\n
Defense Minister Benny Gantz said he expected the upcoming visit by President Joe Biden to the region to further strengthen this fledgling alliance.<\/p>\n
Israel considers Iran to be its greatest enemy, citing the country\u2019s suspect nuclear program and its support for anti-Israel proxies across the region as threats. In recent years, it has formed a series of partnerships, some in the open and others covert, with Gulf Arab countries threatened by Iran.<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s announcement by Gantz was the first time Israel has openly acknowledged a regionwide military alliance with Arab partners as part of its budding regional ties.<\/p>\n
In testimony to parliament\u2019s powerful Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Gantz gave few details about the \u201cMiddle East Air Defense Alliance,\u201d or MEAD, including what other countries are members or what types of operations it has carried out.<\/p>\n
He called it the \u201cfirst element\u201d of a shared vision \u201cin the face of Iran\u2019s attempts to attack the region\u2019s countries using rockets, cruise missiles and UAVs\u201d \u2014 unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis program is already operative and has already enabled the successful interception of Iranian attempts to attack Israel and other countries,\u201d he said. Biden\u2019s visit, which includes stops in Israel and Saudi Arabia in mid-July, \u201cwill support this process,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Two years ago, it established full diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, two Gulf Arab countries that also feel threatened by Iran. It also is believed to have behind-the-scenes ties with Saudi Arabia, the most powerful Arab country in the Gulf, ties that Israel hopes the Biden visit could strengthen.<\/p>\n
Israel last week issued a rare warning ordering citizens to avoid travel to Turkey and urging Israelis in Turkey to leave immediately, saying that Israeli citizens could be targets of Iranian attacks. Gantz said he has ordered the military to prepare a \u201cpowerful response\u201d if Israeli citizens are harmed.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s foreign minister, Yair Lapid, is expected to visit Turkey this week, in the latest sign of warming ties between the Mideast countries.<\/p>\n
Yoel Guzanky, an expert on the Gulf at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank, said the new partnership mentioned by Gantz is in its early stages and should not be compared to regional mutual-defense alliances like NATO.<\/p>\n
He said \u201cno one expects\u201d Israelis and Arab countries to defend one another like NATO, he said. Instead, he said the countries have begun to share information, such as early warning radar intelligence, under the umbrella of the United States.<\/p>\n
Guzansky said it was unlikely the Arab partners will be publicly identified due to the sensitivities around cooperating with Israel. Nonetheless, he said it was an \u201cinteresting development.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the the U.S. decision to move Israel last year from its European Command to its Central Command, which includes Gulf Arab partners, played a key role in establishing the alliance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we are looking at the bright side, it\u2019s the beginning, and from this many things can grow up,\u201d Guzansky said. \u201cThis is the first phase.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JERUSALEM (AP) \u2014 Israel\u2019s defense minister on Monday said that Israel is helping build a U.S.-led regional air-defense alliance against Iran, and that the partnership has already thwarted attempted Iranian attacks. Defense Minister Benny Gantz said he expected the upcoming visit by President Joe Biden to the region to further strengthen this fledgling alliance. Israel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-193515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193515\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}