By Jim Garamone
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
TEL AVIV, Israel, June 9, 2015 – Discussing threats from
Iran or the vicious actions of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has a
different resonance when the conversation is in Israel rather than the United
States, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said here today.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff discussed these
threats and the state of the military-to-military relationship between the
United States and Israel during meetings at the Kyria, the headquarters for
Israel’s defense establishment.
The proximity of the threat changes the conversation,
Dempsey said. “My first visit to Israel happened to be in Tel Aviv in late
2011,” the chairman told reporters traveling with him. “Then-chief of defense
[Lt. Gen.] Benny Gantz took me to a hotel in central Tel Aviv, and we had
dinner on the roof -- on a helipad. He took me there purposely. He said ‘Look
around you. From this roof, you can see 65 percent of the population of
Israel.’
“His message to me,” the chairman continued, “was that was
why he needed our help to build and thicken an integrated air/missile defense
system, because of the threat of rockets and missiles not only from Gaza, but
even more prominently from Lebanon and potentially … from Iran.”
Huge Investments
U.S. and Israeli military officials went to work, the
chairman said. Since then, both nations have made huge investments in the Iron
Dome, David’s Sling and the Arrow air defense systems.
“We’ve really developed a fully integrated air defense
system like nowhere else in the world,” the chairman said. “We also built a
fusion center in southern Israel for command and control. We’ve exercised it,
and as a result, when the issue occurred in Gaza last year they were very
skilled in integrating their air and missile defense system.”
The United States has committed to sustain the system and to
“thicken” it, because the threat is increasing, not decreasing, he said.
Army Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, the commander in chief of the
Israel Defense Force, hosted Dempsey. The chairman also met with Israeli
Defense Minister Moshe “Boogie” Yaalon.
Firm Commitment
Dempsey told the Israeli leaders that America’s commitment
to Israel is firm, and that the cooperation between the two militaries is rock
solid. “The purpose of the visit is transitional,” the chairman said. “We’ve
really solidified our relationship of the last few years in the face of
increasing disorder around Israel.”
Syria has disintegrated, and Iran and its proxies threaten
Israel. An Israeli military official, speaking on background, called Iran the
greatest danger to his nation.
Israelis are worried about what effect a deal with Iran to
curtail its nuclear ambitions will have on the region. “Regarding Iran, if
there is a nuclear deal with Iran, we have work to do,” Dempsey said. “If there
is no deal with Iran, we have work to do.”
If there is a deal, he explained, this does not let Iran off
the hook for its other malign activities in the region. Iran is proliferating
ballistic missile technology, it is trafficking weapons in the region, and it
is operating throughout the region via surrogates and proxies, the chairman
said. Iranian moves with naval mines and undersea activities are another
concern, Dempsey said, as is Iran’s threat in cyberspace.
Partners Want Assurances
American partners in the region want to be reassured that if
there is a nuclear deal, then the United States won’t ignore these other
activities, he said. “We’re clear-eyed about the risks that Iran poses to the
region,” the chairman added, “and we will work with those partners to address
those risks.”
Dempsey said he also spoke with Israeli officials about
maintaining Israel’s qualitative military edge in the region and in pursuing a
quantitative military edge.
Qualitative and Quantitative Military Edge
“As regional groups and partners increase their
capabilities,” he said, “the Israelis, naturally, are going to want have
discussions with us about how to maintain not only a qualitative military edge,
but a quantitative military edge.”
In response to the Iranian threat, nations in the region are
growing their air forces, ground forces and maritime forces.
“Israel wants to be sure we are not just helping them on the
qualitative side, but also attuned to the fact that while we encourage our Gulf
partners to build capability to offset Iran and these substate actors like ISIL
-- that they don’t grow so much in size that they become an overmatch in the
region,” Dempsey said.
Israel will be the only country in the region with the F-35
Lighting II joint strike fighter, he noted, and that will give them a
qualitative advantage. Still, the chairman said, he reassured Israeli officials
that the United States is attuned to their concerns and will work with them on
mitigating any risk to them.
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